What if μ's enrolled into Yumenosaki
by Kazuki-Rina
Summary: Ever wondered how μ's would be if they were in Yumenosaki instead? Well, that's exactly what you're going to find out in this story! Join μ's on how they interact with the students and teachers of Yumenosaki. REQUEST CLOSED! WILL OPEN SOON!
1. Class 1A - Cleaning Duty

**Well, basically, the title says it all. The idea came out of nowhere ever since I started playing Ensemble Stars and my thoughts are like, 'what if they meet each other?' or something like that. Most of the chapters won't be about romance all the time because, well the title says it all. Basically it's how μ's' life around Yumenosaki's surroundings. I can't just made this into a story that only focuses on μ's' love life only. Actually, I can but that would be a totally different title. But no worries! There will be some fluff moments with the chosen pairings~!**

 **And since I'm one of those people called "Shippers", this urge inside of me keeps nagging me to do something with them ( _I've decided the pairings already...huehuehue~! Don't hate me if you don't like it._ ) So anyway, what I wanted to say is, I'm really excited to write this one-shot series of μ's' interactions with the boys. I hope you'll enjoy reading the story even if you may see some errors in it sooner or later. But I'll do my best to avoid those errors~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 1: Class 1A – Cleaning Duty

"Hey? Who's doing the cleaning duty today?" Tetora looked around in the class as he caught everyone's attention. The teacher for their last period had to leave early, leaving the class to do a self-study while waiting for the bell.

"Oh, that will be me and Hanayo." Maki replied as she looked up from reading a book.

"Huh, is that so? Then how about we do it now?" Tetore asked, as he directed the question towards the two females in the class. The suggestion earned him a questioning stares from everyone but Tetora did not seemed to mind it.

"Eh? But we've still got like an hour before school ends." Hanayo said. Tetora grinned even wider after she said that.

"Then all the more reason why we should do it now! At least you girls don't have to rush once school ends. You guys could even just head to your own clubs after this!" he explained. Maki and Hanayo looked at each other before they looked back at the grinning boy at the front of the class.

"Well, you have a point...but-" Maki's word was cut off by Tetora.

"Right?! So, let's get started!" Tetora made his way to the back of the class to get the tools for the cleaning duty in the locker at the back of their class.

"Hey, I haven't even finished saying it. Geez..." Maki let out a sigh as her eyes followed the boy's movement.

"Tetora-kun, what are you doing?" Hanayo asked as she watched the boy took out a dirty cloth that was used to wipe the windows.

"What am I doing? Obviously, I'm helping out~! The more help you get, the better!" he replied, his grin still remained on his face.

"If that's the case, let me help too." Hajime spoke up as he got up from his seat and made his way to Tetora.

"Eh? E-Even Hajime-kun?" Hanayo asked. The blue-haired boy nodded with a smile before taking another dirty cloth.

"Hajime, I know you love to help out but really, you don't have to trouble yourself about this." Maki said as she turned around to face him. However, Hajime shook his head.

"It's fine. I really wanted to help out. Besides, it's fun when everyone worked together." he replied and made his way to a nearby window before he started to clean it.

"That's right! Don't worry about it and just let us help~!" Tetora said as he did the same action as Hajime did. Maki was beginning to suspect something but nonetheless, kept quiet about it. Unlike Maki, Hanayo was beginning to feel guilty and decided to do her cleaning duty as well.

"I-I'll go and stack the books on the bookshelf." she told her red-haired friend before she went towards the bookshelf. Not soon after that, Midori offered to help her by placing the books in the shelf that Hanayo herself could not reached.

Maki let out a sigh before getting up from her seat. She made her way to grab one of the broom in the locker when suddenly another hand reached out and grabbed another broom. Turning around, she faced with Tomoya as he smiled at her.

"I think you could use an extra help for this one." he said and Maki muttered a quiet 'thank you' before she began sweeping. She was thankful of his offer since sweeping the entire classroom can be tiring if she did it alone. The whole class was busy cleaning on their own until Hinata entered the class.

"Whoa! What happened here?" he asked, obviously surprised to see how lively the class right now. Tetora, who was wiping the window seconds ago, faced the the older twin with a grin.

"As you can see, we're cleaning the classroom~!" he proudly announced.

Hinata looked around and as Tetora had said, everyone was cleaning. Everyone except him. Feeling a little left out, he pouted.

"Aww, how can you guys left me out of this? Meanies..." he looked away.

"Who was it again that ran out of the class as soon as the teacher left?" Tomoya mumbled to himself as he continued to sweep, not even bothered to look at the sulking boy.

"Then, why not join us?" Hanayo asked and almost immediately Hinata perked up.

"Really? Alright~!" Hinata cheered as he looked around to see what could be cleaned up. Maki however, quickly tried to stop him. Knowing his behaviour, she knew he was up to something.

"You know, we're almost finished with the cleaning. So, I don't think you need to worry about it." she said and Hinata looked at her with a sad smile but somehow hinted something else behind it.

"Eh~? That's not true. After all, no one haven't clean this yet~" he picked up the dusters at the front. Upon seeing the item, everyone froze from their cleaning duty except for Hajime and Hanayo who were completely oblivious to what the older twin was implying. Hinata was smiling brightly but behind that smile, most of them could saw his mischievous intention.

"U-Um, I think that's not really important. Besides, our teachers rarely use the blackboard... So it's probably not even **THAT** dirty." Tomoya tried to give a reasonable excuse and Hinata looked completely unamused at the attempt.

"But...he's just trying to help. Why not just let him?" Hanayo asked the taller male beside her, confused at why was everyone preventing him from cleaning it.

"Don't encourage him...!" he whispered in a forced way, surprising the petite female.

"Is that so? Then I'll guess we'll just have to check it out~!" he said as he took two dusters. By the time, everyone tried to stop him, it was already too late. Hinata slammed both of the dusters against each other and the impact caused a lot of white dust to appear and filled up the whole classroom.

"What the!? Hey, Hinata! Stop it! Clearly, that duster has a lot of dust in it!" Tetora exclaimed as he covered his mouth and nose with his arm.

"Since when does it has that much dust in it!?" Tomoya yelled, surprised at the size of the dust quickly filling up the room. Everyone was coughing from the dust but Hinata seemed to be fine with some of the dust stuck on his uniform as he grinned at them.

"See~? I knew this thing needs to be cleaned up." he said and continued to slam the dusters again and again, ignoring his classmates' pleas telling him to stop. As the white dust filled up the room, Hinata put down the dusters before looking over at his classmates as he waited for the white dust to disappear. The sight he saw immediately got him laughing out loud.

"Hahahahahahahaha~! Oh my god! You should see your faces!" he grabbed his sides from laughing too much. Apparently, all of them got white dust stuck on them, both face and uniform.

"Oh man, wait until I show this to everyone~!" he said and quickly snapped a picture from his mobile phone. Grinning at his classmates while he patted his uniform from the dust, he casually left the room before he said, "I got a good laugh for today, so thanks for that~! See you~!"

As soon as he left, Midori was the one to break the tense silence.

"Well, I guess we have extra work to do now..."

"HINATA!" they yelled, surprising the students and teachers alike who were in the same building as them.

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 **And there you go, the first chapter featuring the students from class 1A~! Yes, before you guys asked, only Maki and Hanayo of μ's is in 1A. Rin is in 1B classroom which will be the next chapter of the same topic~! I'll do the rest of μ's' interactions with their own classmates based on the topic I'm doing. For now, the first six chapters will be about cleaning duty. Now all that's left is doing 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B.**

 **Before I end this, I apologize in advance if the characters were OOC or strange. I'm pretty sure that I've tried my best to avoid from making them like that but if you guys somehow found out that they were OOC, then I'm sorry. (T^T) I may be a fan of Love Live and Ensemble Stars, but I'm not as hardcore as the real fans. ( _please don't hate me..._ )**

 **I guess, that's all from me. I'll try to update as fast as I can since I'm actually having a writer's block (yet again unfortunately...) Hope you enjoyed it and if you can, please leave a review or give me a suggestions on topics that you might have in mind~! Your reviews would motivate me in continuing my writings~!**


	2. Class 1B - Cleaning Duty

**Hey~! I'm back with another chapter and this time, it's Class 1B – Cleaning Duty! Yep, you know what's it about. So, let's jump right into it shall we?**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 2: Class 1B – Cleaning Duty

If there's one thing that Class 1B lacks compare to 1A, it's teamwork. Especially when it comes to cleaning duty. Today was one of those days where no one even bothered to help one another with cleaning the classroom. Unfortunately for Rin, today was the day she was assigned to do the cleaning duties. _With Tori_.

Yes, the infamous Himemiya Tori. Who never even lift a single finger in cleaning. Thinking back to all the previous days, he would always found a way to skip cleaning.

" _But that's a commoner's job!"_

" _Unlike you, I'm busy with the student council's work!"_

" _You asked me to do a pheasant's job? Go ask someone else."_

Sighing, Rin recalled back to where he even went so far by ordering Yuzuru to take his place and clean the classroom. She won't deny it. It was awkward cleaning with him. Not only did he obeyed Tori's command and cleaned the whole class but he even cleaned it better than her. She could still remember that satisfying smile he put on when he finished cleaning.

Rin's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the school bell. Almost everyone in the class immediately stuffed their books back into their bags. She glanced to the pink-haired boy at the front and she could see he was quickly cleaning his stuff, ready to leave.

"Rin-chan!" a voice called out to her. Looking at her side, Tenma stood there with his bag slung at his shoulder.

"Ready to go? Today we're having a full time practice! And I get to race against you and Ado-chan-senpai too! Isn't it exciting?" he grinned.

"Well, I like to go as soon as possible but..." she glanced at the pink-haired boy again as he got up from his seat and went towards the door.

"I have cleaning duties today." she looked at the boy beside her again. Tenma looked at the girl before he slapped his forehead as realization dawned on him.

"Oh yeah! That's right, I forgot. You have to clean the class with Tori-chan was it?"

"Hey, Tori-chan! Where are you going? Aren't you supposed to do your cleaning duty first?" Tenma spotted the pink-haired boy as he was about to leave. Tori turned around with a frown.

"Geez, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm busy and I don't see the point in cleaning the class if it's still going to be dirty." he crossed his arms, his expression completely showed dissatisfaction.

"But Tori-chan," Rin spoke up, causing the boy to frown at her next.

"I just thought that it'll be fun for once in a while if we do our cleaning duties together, you know?" she pleaded. However, Tori's face remained the same. He looked away, completely uninterested and obviously, irritated.

"Aww, come on Tori-chan! Rin-chan have been doing all the cleaning duties by herself for the past few weeks. Can't you at least help her once in a while?" Upon Tenma's question, Tori placed both of his hands at his hip as he frown at both of them.

"Geez, you guys are so persistent! Listen here, I'm going to say this once and that's it." Tori pointed his index finger to the duo.

"I'm not going to waste my precious time doing some lowly work like cleaning! Someone like me who is in the Student Council have more complicated works to do. So, I'm not going to-"

"Oh, Himemiya-kun. You're still here?" a voice spoke from behind the pink-haired boy, causing him to stop talking and turned around.

"K-Kunugi-sensei!" surprised to see the Student Council's advisor, Tori faltered back from the teacher who was standing behind him before. Even the other students were surprised to see him here.

"I heard a loud noise. Did something happened?" he asked as he looked around to see what was amiss. Tori grinned not long before his face suddenly shifted to a pleading look as he twiddled with his fingers.

"Kunugi-sensei, you need to hear this! I was about to head to the Student Council meeting room but these guys were stopping me from coming over! Can you believe them?!" he complained.

"Liar!" both Rin and Tenma yelled.

"Oh, now that you mentioned it. I have news regarding the Student Council..." he spoke up and almost immediately Tori's eyes lit up.

"Is it about work? Well, leave it to me-"

"...the meeting was canceled." the teacher announced. Almost immediately, the whole class fell into silence.

"What?"

Akiomi let out a sigh as he heard the blunt respond from the petite student.

"I don't like to repeat what I have already said. But since you weren't listening, I guess I have no choice." he leaned forward until their face were millimeters away.

"The. Meeting. Was. Canceled." Akiomi stressed each of the words with stern face. And just like that, Tori was left standing at the spot, lifeless as he absorbed the news into his brain.

"Wow, must be suck to actually not have a meeting if he makes that kind of face..." Tenma whispered. Rin could only hummed in approval.

"Now that you know, I do hoped that you'll find no problem in feeling guilty for skipping your cleaning duties anymore." That caused confusion among the students in the class.

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Kunugi-sensei?" Rin asked, slightly confused by the teacher's statement. The teacher in response, raised his left eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"I fail to see why you would ask such a question."

"Ah! I-It's nothing!" Tori tried to get the teacher's attention but to no avail as he demanded an explanation from the female in the class. Rin was hesitating since Tori was glaring at her direction as if he was telling her not to say any ridiculous things. However, another voice spoke up which no one was expecting it.

"Actually sir, Hime-kun never actually wanted to help Rin in the first place. He always used the same excuse whenever she asked him to help her out. And that was, he has work to do in the Student Council." Yuta spoke up causing the pink-haired boy to look at him in horror. Yuta however, still kept on with the same expression as if he had done nothing wrong in busting his own classmate.

"Oh...is that so, Himemiya-kun?" the teacher asked, almost nonchalantly but everyone knew there's a certain dark aura surrounding the man. Thus, began a long, painful scolding from the teacher.

"I feel bad-nyaa..." Rin said, her body slumped. Tsukasa, who was in his seat the whole time, looked over at the youngest twin.

"You really don't hold back huh?" Yuta glanced at the red-haired boy before shoving his hands into his pockets.

"It's not wrong to be honest." with that, everyone let out a sigh while Tsukasa just chuckled while mumbling something about being scary regarding the youngest twin. While the other started talking with one another, Rin looked over at the teacher and the pink-haired boy who apparently went outside the classroom to have a 'talk'. Rin mentally slapped herself at the turning events of the class. Not soon after that, Akiomi entered the classroom with Tori behind him.

"Hoshizora-kun, I already asked Himemiya-kun to cooperate with you for today's cleaning duties. You don't need to do most of the cleaning duties since you already did so for the previous weeks before. All you need to do is supervise him throughout the time you two are doing your cleaning duties." Before the female could say anything, the teacher continues on.

"IF he somehow drags around with his cleaning duties, do not hesitate to tell me. Understood?" Not wanting to upset the teacher even more, Rin nodded her head in approval.

"Y-Yes, Kunugi-sensei."

After saying his goodbyes to the students, the whole class fell into silence. Not long after that, Tori's face began to change from a frown to what looked like he was going to murder someone.

"So? What am I supposed to do?" he asked, his glare could burn holes into people.

"Ahahaha, w-well, how about we do something that is easy for you to do?" Rin suggested as she looked around to find something that Tori could do. Wiping the windows might not be bad.

"Everything I see is too troublesome..." he replied.

Letting out a sigh, Rin knew it's going to be hard to persuade the pink-haired boy to do his cleaning duty. Good thing Yuta took over as he began to recommend all the work he could do.

"Well, what about sweeping?" he asked while leaning at his own seat.

"It takes too long..."

"What about wiping the windows?"

"I don't want to dirty my hands by holding dirty rag..."

"Then what about stacking the books over there?" he pointed to the shelf at the back of the room. Tori looked at where the youngest twin pointed before glaring at back at him.

"In case you're blind, I'm short! Thank you very much!"

"Whoops, totally forgot that he's sensitive about his height..." Yuta mumbled, without any sign of guilty. Upon seeing the whole thing, Tsukasa got up from his seat as he brought everyone's attention to him.

"Alright, alright. Guys, I have an idea. So, hear me out. Why not everyone help Tori-kun with each of the cleaning duty? For example, I can help with stacking the books here. Rin-san can help with the sweeping. Tenma-kun and Shinobu-kun can help with the windows. And Yuta-kun, you can help with the dusters. How about it?" everyone was silent for a while before they agreed.

"H-Huh? Are you guys serious?" Tori asked, completely surprised by his classmates sudden agreement to help him out.

"I told you before," Rin spoke up.

"It's more fun if we all worked together. Right?" she smiled as Tori began to blush and looked away. He was not expecting any help so it was natural that he would be embarrassed.

"Alright! If that's the case, both Shinobu-chan and I will teach you how to clean the windows properly. Right, Shinobu-chan?" Tenma said, pumped up with motivation as he looked over at their silent classmate, Sengoku Shinobu.

"If I could be of any help, I'll be happy to show you how it's done, Himemiya-dono."

Speechless with the turn of events, Tori mumbled a 'thank you' and everyone began to help the pink-haired boy with various cleaning work. It was tough at first when Tori was still reluctant to do any of it but slowly, he began to follow what everyone had showed him. He may have done a sloppy job, but everyone knew he was doing a good job.

Right now, Tenma and Shinobu were watching over on how Tori was sweeping the floor. Rin smiled to herself at the sight. Their class may lack in teamwork, but one thing that they were good at, is to support one another.

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~ Extra ~

"So, what am I supposed to do with these things?" Tori asked as he hold up two dusters each in his own hands. Yuta was in charge of it so naturally, he had to show how it was done.

"Oh, this one is easy. Come over here." Yuta motioned Tori to come over to the window and stand in front of it. He followed soon after, eager to finish his job. The youngest twin explained on what the pink-haired boy should do with it while the other classmates watched from their seats with a smile on their face.

"Yuta-kun is doing a good job huh?" Tsukasa said as he got up, bag in hand as he was getting ready to leave the class once they were finished.

"As expected of Yuta-kun." Shinobu agreed.

"Yeah, no doubt about that. But, somehow...something's bothering me." Tenma spoke up, causing a confusion between them. As if everyone's face urged him to continue, Tenma looked over at Rin with a worried expression.

"Hey, Rin-chan. Remember what Hana-chan said the other day? When she went for club activities, dressed in white chalk dusts? She said it was Hinata-chan who made it right?" Once she recalled it, her face was replaced with a look of concern.

"Now that you mentioned it-" but before she could even finished her sentence, the sound of POOF came from the duo at the window. Looking over at them, Yuta got a bit of white dust on his face while Tori's face was...well, completely covered in white.

"And that's how you do it. It's fun right? Well, it's getting late. So I leave first okay? See you." Just like that, he left the classroom followed by a silence. The whole class looked over at Tori without even realizing that he was shaking in anger.

"I HATE CLEANING!"

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 **Yeah, poor Tori. I felt bad for treating him like this. But, hey, at least he got some good classmates to help him out when he's down. So, yeah, basically, what Yuta just did to him was exactly like how Hinata did to his classmates in the previous chapter. In this case, he was cleaning out the dusters way too to Tori's face. Thus, why Tori's face was covered in white.**

 **Alright, next up will be 2A~! Whoo~! Hope you enjoyed this chapter while waiting for the next one to be uploaded. See ya!**


	3. Class 2A - Cleaning Duty

**Presenting Class 2A's cleaning duty scene~! Now, before we get started, I might as well tell you this beforehand. In class 2A, only Umi and Kotori from μ's are in this class. Honoka, as you can guess by now, is in 2B. Now while this chapter focuses on 2A, there will be other characters appearing as a teaser for the upcoming chapters. Maybe a little hint somewhere too~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° Anyway, I'm not going to type for too long and just get into the story now. So, hope you'll enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 3: Class 2A – Cleaning Duty

The sound of the bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of school session and the start of club activities. Class 2A, as usual never really rushed themselves in leaving the class as they pack their stuff before leaving. All except for one. That person is Akehoshi Subaru.

"Alright~! Time for club activities! Bye-bye, everyone~!" he got up and waved as he walked towards the door.

"Wait for a minute, Akehoshi." a voice spoke up as his back collar were pulled back as soon as he passed his best friends' desk. Almost choked by the sudden action, Subaru turned around and faced the one that stopped him.

"Ow, that hurts. What's wrong, Hokke? You surprised me." the orange-haired male said as he rubbed his throat. Hokke, or by his real name, Hokuto, crossed his arms with a disappointed look.

"Have you forgotten what you had promised me earlier?" even though Hokuto was giving him the look, Subaru was completely oblivious of what he was trying to say. After a couple of seconds, Subaru's face lit up as if he remembered something.

"Oh~! You wanted to walk with me as we head to our club right?" he asked, smiling brightly as he looked at his friend. Hokuto on the other hand, pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm himself down.

"Unbelievable. You promised me to do your part of the cleaning works today remember?"

Just like that, Subaru's face completely changed. Apparently, he forgot that he made such a promise. Judging from his expression, Hokuto glared at the orange-haired male with an annoyed look, arms still crossed against his chest.

"I see that you forgot about it. Well, it's no surprised considering how long you have been neglecting your cleaning duty for these past few weeks. And the fact that you even forgot that we DO have a cleaning duty today doesn't come as a surprise to me anymore." he explained, causing Subaru to flinch. While what he said was true, Subaru didn't mean to skip on cleaning duty on purpose.

"Akehoshi..." another voice spoke up and this time it belonged to a female. Looking beside Hokuto, Umi stood there with a face of concern.

"It's not that we're forcing you to do everything but Hidaka-san and I have covered you for a while now. So why not today, we do it together?" she asked with a smile. Unlike Hokuto, Umi's approach was much more nice and gentle, causing the orange-haired male to relax as he willingly gave up.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry~! I didn't mean to cause trouble for you two." Subaru apologized as he pressed both his palms together in front of him in an apologizing manner. Letting out a sigh, Hokuto looked at his friend before speaking up.

"Well, if you really mean it, let's get started shall we?" he asked as he made his way to the back of the class to get the tools for cleaning.

"Ehh~! Right now? Can't we do it later~? Let's take a break for a while!" the orange-haired male whined, causing everyone to look at him in disbelief.

"Now where did that part of apologizing went, I wonder?" Hokuto muttered, obviously irritated.

"You can't do that, Akehoshi. Didn't you promised Hidaka-san to do your cleaning duty?" Umi said as she crossed her arms.

"But Umi~" pouting, Subaru looked at the blue-haired girl as if he was saying to give him some slack.

"No. You need to fulfill your promise no matter what." she said as she stressed on her words, ending the talk in an instant. Of course, Umi never gave him him some slack when it comes to responsibility. His behaviour reminded her a lot about Honoka after all. It was because of that, she doesn't hesitate to be stern when necessary.

"Waahh! Ukki~!" the orange-haired male turned around as he lunged to his other friend, Yuuki Makoto. The impact caused the bespectacled boy to nearly lost his balance.

"Whoa! Don't just suddenly jumped on me. You nearly got me a heart attack..." Makoto said as he regained his balance and pushed his friend away but Subaru's grip was strong, proving that it was futile to get the orange-haired male off of him.

"But, Ukki~! Don't you feel bad for me? All I wanted was to take a break before we start. Yet, they wanted to do it now..." he goes on and on, without even realizing that he was only talking to himself as Makoto looked over to the rest of his classmates for help.

"I fail to understand why Akehoshi-dono doesn't want to do his cleaning duty. Compare to the punishment I received to clean the whole temple, cleaning this classroom proves no difficulty at all." Souma spoke up, looking at his orange-haired classmate in wonder.

"Actually, the fact that you compare the class to your home is what I fail to understand the most..." Makoto mumble.

"Hehehe, that's Subaru-kun for you." Kotori giggled as she gave a knowing look to the female beside her seat who apparently was Anzu. The brunette let out a sigh as she looked over to the orange-haired male with a concern face.

"Subaru-kun, you better do your work seriously. Hokuto-kun and Umi-chan have done a lot to cover you up. This time, you better do your part." she said with a hint of a stern tone. Subaru, who had recovered from his whining state, pouted even more.

"Don't worry, Anzu. He will do a good job, I assure you." Hokuto came back as he brought the tools with him.

"What do you mean?" Kotori asked. Soon after that, Hokuto throws a dirty rag towards his orange-haired friend as he caught it swiftly.

"I'm expecting to see the windows all 'sparkly', Akehoshi. I'm entrusting you with that task. You have no problem doing it right? " he asked with a smirk. As if he knew how his friend would reacted, Subaru's eyes twinkled in excitement.

"You mean it~?! Roger, Hokke! I'll do my best to make everything sparkly~!" he said as he took an empty bucket before leaving the class in a rush to fill it up. Umi looked at the whole scene as it took place right before her eyes. Of course Subaru wouldn't hesitate to help when it comes to making everything looked sparkly.

"Are you sure about this Hidaka-san? Now that you've given him the chance, you know he's not going to stop until he finds everything in this class sparkly." Umi crossed her arms as she looked at the male. Hokuto let out a sigh, showing that even he regretted his action.

"I know but if it could get Akehoshi to do his work, then I have no problem with it." Not soon after that, Subaru came back in the class with bucket full of water.

"I'm back~! Hey, Hokke. I can start now right~?" the orange-haired male asked, eyes still twinkling. The male could only nod his head and in the blink of an eye, Subaru was already in front of one of the windows.

"Amazing! I've never seen so much passion in someone who just wants to wipe the windows! Akehoshi-dono is truly an astonishing person." Souma said as once again, looked at the orange-haired male with wonder. Adonis let out a sigh as he got up from his seat.

"Class president, do you need any help?" the silent male asked. Hokuto shook his head.

"Thank you for the offer Otogari, but there's no need to trouble yourself. You've helped us a lot the other day." he replied. Adonis nodded his head before making his way out.

"Then, I'll be leaving first." he said before leaving the class. Souma followed soon after, not before he greeted them goodbye.

"Umi-chan, do you want me to stay and help?" Kotori asked as she made her way to the blue-haired female's side. Umi smiled before shaking her head.

"It's fine Kotori. You and Anzu had helped us too, weeks ago. Besides, didn't you said that you wanted to help Anzu in designing costumes for the next DreamFes?" Kotori and Anzu looked at each other before they smiled at the blue-haired female.

"Well, I guess we'll go now. Good luck with the cleaning duty." Kotori and Anzu waved goodbye before leaving the classroom. Once the two females had left the room, both Hokuto and Umi proceeded with their cleaning duties. Umi swept the floor, Hokuto stacked the books and Subaru still wiped the same window, diligently. The trio did their work in silence as they focused on finishing their work as fast as they can while making sure not to do a sloppy job. While they were so focused on cleaning, they did not even realized someone was outside their classroom until they called them out.

"Umi-chan." a female voice spoke up, breaking them out of their own trance as they looked over at the entrance.

"Honoka? And Isara-san too?" the blue-haired female looked at the duo at the entrance. Umi and Hokuto were surprised to see both of them here all of the sudden. Honoka waved at them with grin while Mao just smile.

"Kousaka and Isara? Now that's rare. What brings you two here?" Hokuto asked as he stacked the last batch of books in its place before going towards the duo.

"Oh, Hokuto-kun. I have news from Hibiki-senpai. He said that there's no club meeting today so we're free to go home after school." Honoka announced and Hokuto could only let out sigh.

"Again? And what was his reason today?" the male asked only to get a shrug from the ginger-haired female as a response.

"What about you Isara-san?" Umi asked and the violet-haired male just scratched the back of his neck before speaking up.

"Well, I wanted to check up on Subaru because our basketball captain is waiting for him but..." he dragged on as he looked over at the orange-haired male at the window.

"...what is he doing?"

Hokuto and Umi weren't surprised to see him standing on the same spot. They looked at each other before telling the duo the whole story. Mao could only looked at the orange-haired male in disbelief while Honoka looked confused as she went towards Subaru.

"Subaru-kun? Hey, Subaru-kun! Su-ba-ru-kun~! Can't you hear me? Oi~!" she called out as she poked his cheek two, three times but he doesn't even blink at the action.

"It's impossible, Kousaka. He won't budge until he finds that window sparkly as he wanted it to be..." Hokuto said with a slightly regretting tone. Umi let out a nervous laugh while Mao texted Chiaki to come over to drag the orange-haired male out of class.

In the end, Subaru was forced to leave his spot as Chiaki practically carried him over his shoulder as they left the classroom to continue their club activities.

* * *

 **And that's the end of Class 2A's cleaning duty scene~! Boy, Subaru sure is attracted to sparkly things. I'm sure that window ends up more sparkly than the rest. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed that little skit between them. I'll try to update the rest of the chapters as soon as I can. While I still have the time, that is~! Huhuhuhu~! Anyway, leave a comment or a review. That'll helped me get motivated to do more. To the point where I will do a "Couple Chapter"~! Again, thank you for reading and I hope to see you soon~!**


	4. Class 2B - Cleaning Duty

**Finally, it's time for class 2B to shine~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° You know the drill! Enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 4: Class 2B – Cleaning Duty

"Oh, so I am on duty today..." a ginger-haired female mumbled as she looked at 2B's duty roster. Besides for her name, two other names were listed to do a cleaning duty as well. Turning around, she faced the other two students with a smile.

"Mao-kun! Koga-kun! Since the teacher left early, let's do our cleaning duty right now~!" she announced, causing all the students in 2B to look at her.

"Haa? Cleaning duty? Who the hell would want to waste their time doing cleaning duty?" barked a grey-haired male. Honoka pouted as Koga immediately refused her suggestion.

"But why not? It's not like we're doing anything right now." she looked around. Most of the students were minding their own business. The teacher didn't even gave them any work to do so basically, all of them have free time.

"So why not make the most of our time doing something useful?" the female suggested.

"You wanna know how to make yourself useful? It's to shut up and sit down at your place!" the grey-haired glared.

"Koga, be nice. I'm sure Honoka was just trying to help." the violet-haired male stood up as he made his way to the back of the class. "Besides, if we do it now, we can just leave the class and go to our club meetings after this."

"Yep, as expected of Mao-kun! You know what I'm thinking~!" Honoka grinned as she followed him from behind. Koga, however, remain seated at his place.

"Whatever. You guys do what you want. I'm not doing it!" Koga clicked his tongue as he ignores the duo at the back. Honoka let out a sigh as she faced the male beside her.

"Hey, Mao-kun. Shouldn't we at least try to persuade him to do his job? After all, he did skipped on us last week..." Honoka asked. Mao let out a sigh as he pass her a broom.

"Nah, it's better if we don't. Yeah, it doesn't sound fair but at least it's better than him barking at us the whole time." he took out a dirty rag and a bucket from the locker.

"Well, you have a point there..." Honoka muttered. Mao took out a dirty rag and a bucket from the locker. He left the class to fill up the bucket while Honoka started to sweep the floor. Once Mao came back to the class, both of them started doing their cleaning duties.

At first, everything was peaceful. Honoka and Mao did their cleaning in peace without any disturbance. That is until Koga began to harass them.

"Oi, Kousaka! You missed a spot over there!" he pointed out. Honoka looked over to where the grey-haired male pointed only to find a scrap of paper far away from her.

"I'm not even there yet. I'll get to it later so wait for a while." Honoka replied. She heard the male snickered but she ignored it and continued her work. Not long after that, Mao was the next one to be harassed.

"Isara, wipe properly! Wipe it until it's all clear and sparkly." Koga crossed his arms.

"I'm not Subaru so I can't promise it to be sparkly..." Mao replied as he continued to wipe the windows. Starting from there, Koga non-stop pointed out every single thing they do. It was not a big deal but Honoka was at her limit and she snapped.

"Geez, if it bothers you that much, then do it yourself!" she placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the male.

"Haa? You're asking ME to do your work?" Koga asked, surprised by her statement.

"Well at least help us out!"

"I am helping! By pointing out your mistake~!" he grinned and this time she just half glared at him. She should have known. Koga was just messing around with her and the fact that he managed to make her snapped meant as a victory to him.

"Urgh, so noisy..." Ritsu muttered as he shifted his body to get in a proper position to sleep.

"Geez, Koga-chan. It's not nice to bully them when they're the one that did most of the work. Besides, making people snapped is not worth calling as an achievement." Arashi spoke up. Honoka smiled at the blond for backing her up. Arashi in return, winked at the female. Of course, that didn't go unnoticed by the grey-haired male.

"Ahh~! You guys are pissing me off!"

"You're just jealous because no one stood up for you~!" Honoka teased and stuck her tongue out. An irk formed at Koga's forehead as he glared at the female.

"Argh~! Shut up and do your work!"

Honoka grinned as she continued to sweep the floor. Even what had happened just then, Koga kept on harassing the female. Not that she minded that much anymore. Once she had done sweeping, she decided to clean the dusters next. When she brought it outside the window and slammed the dust out from it, Koga suddenly sneezed.

"Dammit, my nose is all itchy..." he muttered. Unfortunately, Honoka heard it and she grinned once again.

"Koga-kun~!" she chirped. Koga glared at her but soon, his expression changed as he saw the smile on Honoka's face.

"W-What...?" he asked timidly. Cursing for showing his timidness, Honoka giggled.

"I have something for you~!" without any sudden notice, she slammed both dusters in front of his face.

"Gahh! What the hell is wrong with you?! A-A-Achoo!" he sneezed as soon as he got up from his seat.

"It's payback time!" she chased after the grey-haired male as he tried to run away from her.

"Dammit woman! What's is wrong with you!?" the male fought back as he tried to pry one of the dusters from her. Arashi, who was touching up with his make-up looked at the duo in disbelief.

"How did it ended up like that?" he asked. Yuzuru, who had been observing them from the beginning, frowned at their behaviour.

"Will you stop it!? Are you trying to kill me with this-! A-A-Achoo!"

"That's what you get for disturbing me from cleaning the class! Eat this~!"Honoka continued to slam the dusters at the grey-haired male.

"I'm a little bit worried about this..." the blue-haired male said.

Not long after that, the sound of POOF echoed in the class as everyone went silent. Both Honoka and Koga stopped struggling as they, along with everyone else looked over at the back of the class. Mao was standing in front of the bookshelf with his back facing everyone. What made him stand out was the white, rectangular shaped dust stuck at the back of his hair. Turning around, he gave them a half-smile look while one of his eyebrow twitched.

"Well, you guys sure had fun..." he muttered but it was loud and clear for the whole class to hear. What frightened them the most was his expression that looked like he was going to murder someone.

"Koga-kun did it!" Honoka quickly pointed to Koga.

"Liar!" Koga retorted. However, Mao refused to listen.

"I've had enough! You two are dead!" Mao picked up the duster at his feet before throwing it towards the duo. Honoka managed to dodge the duster but Koga was unfortunate enough to get hit by the duster.

"Uh-oh, Maa-kun is mad. He's snapped~" Ritsu said before he went to sleep again, not even bothered to calm his childhood friend. He knew it was futile when he's snapped since it was rare for him to be. But when he is, it's too late to do anything.

"Isara, you bastard-" Koga muttered before he stood up with a challenging look at the violet-haired male.

"Fine! It's war then!"

"Bring it on!" and thus, began the 'Duster War' in 2B. Dusters were thrown, back and forth. They even had spare dusters from the teacher's table to use to one another.

"H-Hey~! Someone stop them! One thing though, where did all those dusters came from?! I don't recall having all of those in the class!" Arashi squeaked as he ducked from one of the dusters that was thrown towards him. Apparently, only Arashi was sane enough to observed the whole class as he tried to calm them down.

"Ahh, geez~! Honoka-chan, stop gawking there and come over here!"

"Ritsu-chan, don't sleep in the middle of this mess so casually!"

"Wha-? Mika-chan! Where are you going?!" Mika was too tired to deal with the mess so he left the class without saying anything.

"Mao-chan! Koga-chan! Please stop throwing those dusters! You're going to ruin my skin!"

"Who the hell cares about your skin?!" they retorted at the same time before they continued to throw the dusters again. Arashi was at his limit as he could not bear to watch the whole scene anymore.

"Ah! I can't take this anymore! Yuzuru-chan let's leave-" he stopped his sentence as he saw a very calm and composed Yuzuru standing up and going towards the middle of the class.

"Yuzuru-chan?! What are you doing-?!" Arashi stopped preventing the blue-haired male as he witnessed an amazing scene unfolded before him. Yuzuru expertly caught all of the dusters flying in the air before throwing them back to the two suspects that started the mess. The impact from his throw was on point that it hit both Mao and Koga right in the face, causing them to stop from what they were doing. Once everything settled down, Yuzuru looked at everyone with a calm smile.

"Everyone, I'm sure you are tired from the recent activity. Please, leave this mess to me and wait outside." he asked as polite as he ever was. No one dared to disobeyed him and they all left the classroom, waiting outside of the class.

After a couple of minutes later, Yuzuru finally let them inside and the sight of their classroom was enough to make everyone surprised. The blue-haired male had cleaned the whole class, polished and arranged neatly as if everything was brand-new. Too tired to deal with any more weird and abnormal situation, Arashi turned around and faced the duo who started the mess.

"Just to be clear, I saw nothing. Nothing happened. And I don't care." he entered the classroom, dragging the still gawking Honoka inside with him as he took care of her well-being. Koga and Mao looked at one another before they entered the class and went to their seats as they waited for the bell to ring. Although the class had finally calmed down, amidst the whole casual atmosphere, everyone had the same thought regarding the blue-haired male.

Never mess with Yuzuru.

* * *

 **I think we all could agree that Yuzuru would fit the role of cleaner for the class. Hahahaha, my impression towards him literally screams "CLEANESS" to my face. I'm so sorry if you guys find Mao totally OOC because I did planned to make him snapped. It's just how I imagined him if he lost his cool. Hahaha, sorry Mao-lovers out there! (,,** **,,)**


	5. Class 3A - Cleaning Duty

**Moving on to the 3rd years! We're almost at the end guys! For the cleaning duty theme of course. There are many more things that I'm planning to do~! So, no need to be worried. I have so much things to write about them after all~! Anyway, let's get reading shall we? Enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 5: Class 3A – Cleaning Duty

"Remind me why **I** have to do the cleaning job again instead of those that were assigned to do it?" Izumi asked to no one in particular as he wiped one of the windows in his class with a frown on his face.

"I don't mind repeating the answer again and again but I'm sure that will only riled you up even more." Keito answered the grey-haired male's question as he stacked the books at the shelves. Izumi glared at the bespectacled male but kept quiet due to his foul mood right now.

It was supposed to be Eichi, Kaoru and Chiaki's turn to do their cleaning duty. Unfortunately, all three of them weren't available at the moment. Instead, he along with Keito, Eli and Nozomi had to take over, with the exception of Shu who had left from the class.

"God, I'm pissed... Not only I have to take over those idiots' job, but I have to deal with this stupid heat too? Why must the weather have to be this hot...?" Izumi complained. It didn't helped him that the school at the same time had a blackout, causing the heat to be more than just overbearing. It was because of this heat that Eichi fainted in the first place, preventing him from carrying out his cleaning duty.

"You know, instead of complaining all the time, why not use that energy to work more rather than talking?" a female voice spoke up and Izumi turned around to face the owner of the voice, Toujou Nozomi.

"Shut it! You know very well that I hate working when the weather is too hot and now I have to make sure not to sweat too much. Ahh, how troublesome..." Izumi focused back on his cleaning.

"You're not the only one who's facing that kind of problem you know? Sheesh, you act as if you're a girl, Izu-chan~!" she teased, earning a hateful glare from the male. Before he could retorted, another female voice spoke up, preventing both Izumi and Nozomi from getting into a fight.

"Nozomi, don't tease him too much. You're riling him up even more than before..." Eli said as she swept the floor, not looking at them in the eyes.

"Aww, but I was bored. Besides, if Chiaki-kun was here, I wouldn't even bother to talk to Izu-chan in the first place~!" she said.

"I'll kill you woman..."

Looking at the duo, Eli let out a sigh before resuming her cleaning. She knew it was inevitable to prevent them from fighting. Whenever there's a fight going on in 3A, it was always these two.

"Will you two stop it? Not only you're being noisy but you are making this room more heated with all of your bickering..." Keito finally spoke up.

"She started it!" Izumi pointed to the purple-haired female.

"Oho, blaming it all on a woman instead of admitting your mistake~? How ungentlemanly~" once again, Nozomi teased as she poked the male's cheek in a teasing manner. Irritated, he pushed away her hand.

"Hands off woman! I don't need to be a gentleman to someone like you! You, you... You good-for-nothing devil woman!" he retorted, glaring at the purple-haired female who bore a grin on her face.

"Oh? Did I just heard you hesitating? Aww, were you that considerate of not calling me with mean names? How cute~!"

"Don't call me cute! And I wasn't hesitating! Good grief, now I'm beginning to doubt what Morisawa actually saw in you..." he muttered as he looked away, too tired to deal with the purple-haired female.

"Because I'm cute?" she ask, her grin remained on her face. That was all it took before the two started to bicker again. The scene caused Eli and Keito to let out a sigh.

"Are we not going to stop them?" Eli asked.

"Even if we managed to, what's the point if they will end up bickering again? I'd rather use my energy in cleaning the class than stopping them." he said before he looked over at the duo.

"Sena, if you like, I can help out with cleaning the windows." Keito offered, causing the two to look at him. Izumi was more than pleased to actually give his job over to someone else.

"Hmph, do whatever you want. I don't really care. Working in this kind of situation tends to tire me out..." he said as he handed over the dirty rag to the bespectacled male. Keito took it before he started working on cleaning the windows without saying anything.

"Wow, you actually let the vice president took over your job with no hesitation..." Nozomi mumbled but Izumi just shrugged it off.

"Say whatever you want. Besides, aren't you guys mad that we have to take over their jobs?"

"It's not like we have a choice. Eichi-kun is not waking up any soon and Chiaki-kun is in no condition to move around too much..." Eli stopped before looking over at their vice president.

"And then there's another person whose reason is beyond my understanding. Seriously, always chasing around girls as if they're the only thing exist in this world..." the bespectacled male muttered but it was loud enough for the others to hear.

"Right?! I can still understand if it's Tenshouin and Morisawa but that basta-, I mean, that stupid player is not even busy! So why do we have to take care of his responsibility?" feeling a bit pissed, Izumi sat down at his seat before he fanned himself with his hand.

"Oh, you're hesitating again~!" Nozomi teased and ended up earning a glare from him.

"Whatever, I'm done with you. Ahh~ this heat is making me lose my cool..." the grey-haired male massaged his temples while Nozomi and Eli giggled at the male. Keito could only let out a sigh. It's not that he didn't care about that player for skipping his cleaning duty but Keito was at a point that he has no time to deal with that male. So, he didn't bother to chase him around.

"Hey, what if we lure him in?" Eli suddenly suggested the idea. Facing the female, everyone looked at her as if she just said something ridiculous.

"Lure him as in?" Keito asked while wiping the window. While his expression doesn't showed it but he was intrigued by Eli's idea.

"Since Kaoru-kun likes girls in general, what if we lure him here by saying both Nozomi and I need his help?" Almost immediately, Keito stopped cleaning and faced the blond female with curiosity in his eyes.

"Oh! And then we'll do a prank on him right? Nice idea, Elicchi~!" Nozomi showed a thumbs up at her best friend.

"U-Um, I wasn't planning on doing such a thing to him..." Eli tried to push away the thought. She felt bad if he really got tricked by it. Unexpectedly, Izumi agreed with Nozomi this time.

"Nah, I think that's a good idea. We should do a prank on him." Izumi said and soon both him and Nozomi high-fived each other as if they had planned it the whole time.

"Oh, now you're siding with her...?" Eli muttered, half-glaring at the male.

"Interesting idea but I think he wouldn't fall for that since both Sena and I are here as well." Keito spoke up.

"Then we'll just have to lie for the sake of this plan." Eli said, a bit guilty for having to do this. Keito looked like he was thinking about the plan but who knew what exactly the bespectacled male was thinking. Meanwhile, Nozomi and Izumi were getting into the tricks they planned for Kaoru.

"You think we should put something in front of the door to trip him once he enters the room?"

"Lame. Tripping people is too common. Besides, I'm sure even someone clumsy, or to be precise, someone like that stupid king of mine wouldn't trip over things like that."

"Then what about sneaking from behind once he opened the door?" Nozomi suggested another. Izumi could only let out a sigh.

"He can see us on the spot if we hide in the hallway, you idiot."

"Surprise him once he opened the door?"

"For god's sake, you're terrible at coming up with plans..."

"Oh, I know! We'll put a bucket full of water above the door! Once he opened it-" even before Nozomi could finished her sentence, Izumi cut her off.

"Too drastic! I knew that you're a devil deep inside but that's too much!"

"Eh~? But a prank wouldn't be called as a prank if it's not drastic..." the purple-haired female pouted, feeling a bit dispirited by the constant denial of her plans.

"Ahh~! Enough! I'm getting a headache just by listening to you..." Izumi once again massaged his temples from all the nonsense he heard from the female. Eli observed the duo in as she gave them a look of disapproval before she continued her sweeping. She never said that she would agreed to pull a prank for Kaoru. Glancing at the bespectacled male, she wondered if he could do something to stop the duo but apparently, he was still in his thinking-mode. He had been silent for a while that it was almost as if he wasn't in the room.

"Then we'll use these then." Izumi's voice snapped Eli's train of thoughts before she looked over at the duo.

"Dusters?" Eli spoke up as she shoots a questioning glance at the grey-haired male. Even Nozomi was looking at the object in his hand with a questioning look.

"Believe me or not, I heard from that shitty okama that these things were a big deal in their class several days ago. Not that I knew what exactly happened but for him to call this thing a 'nuisance' and 'deadly weapon' at the same time, well, try imagine what we could do with it?" Izumi suggested, a mischievous yet evil smirk slowly formed on his face.

'A villain. I just saw a villain in front of me...' Eli thought in her mind. Even Nozomi had the same look as Eli had on her face as if they were thinking the same thing.

"I object." Kieto immediately replied to Izumi's suggestion, causing the trio to look at the bespectacled male in confusion.

"Hah? And why's that?" he asked, annoyed. It irked him as why his suggestion was denied but when Nozomi suggested her plans, he didn't spoke up at all.

"I've heard enough complains regarding the dusters' accident. From the idols themselves, no less. Even someone like Fushimi was concern about the dusters being used as a playing object. And to think that I've even received a ridiculous suggestion of banning the use of dusters once school period is up..."

"Just to be clear here, I'm not only objecting your ideas, Sena. Toujou," he looked at the purple-haired female with his usual stern look. "Your ideas were far more ridiculous than Sena's. If all of those were to merge together, I would call it the most terrible prank ever."

If Izumi could, he would be so happy to laugh at Nozomi for having the worst ideas than him but somehow the looks that Keito gave off caused the three of them to stand still in fear, unable to speak up in defense. They knew that look so much. It was the look of someone who is famous in giving out a long talk. A long, pressured talk.

"For example, if you plan to trip Hakaze. What if he had an injury? **I, for one, am not going to take the responsibility of cleaning up the problem if it happens**. Two, sneaking him from behind was a futile attempt from the beginning. As you all may know, Hakaze has the ability to discern your scent immediately no matter how well you hide yourself from him. If, for example he couldn't identify you, imagine you sneak from behind and THEN you actually trip together with him after that as well, **I won't be taking both you and him to the infirmary**. Three, surprising him might work since he is easily surprised. But if he were to actually get a heart attack, **I still won't take responsibility for it**. Lastly, dumping a bucket full of water would not only caused a mess to him but to the class as well. Both you and Ayase had went to all the trouble of sweeping the class, only to end up mopping the class too if such thing were to happen. And it doesn't stop there, imagine once the bucket falls on him. The bucket would completely blind his vision, causing him to trip and suffer an injury. Once again, I'll make this clear. **I**. **Won't**. **Take**. **Responsibility**." he explained. Once he finished, his expression went back to his normal composed look.

"Any questions?"

"You're thinking this more than any of us did!" the trio exclaimed at the same time.

"I simply calculate the outcomes." he said while adjusting his glasses. He cleared his throat before taking the dirty rag and continued his cleaning on the last window.

"Anyway, I never had the intention of participating with whatever prank you're planning to get for Hakaze. Unlike you guys, I simply want to finish the job and get out of here as soon as possible. Or do you prefer spending another hour in this class with the heat gradually raising up?" The three of them shook their heads quickly as if their lives were at stake. Keito simply stared at them before facing the window again.

"Then start working. And no more ridiculous talk or else, I'll be giving you a long, good talk that you'll find enjoyable to hear about." he said without looking back. The three of them stared at the bespectacled male before they started whispering among themselves.

"Let's just do our job before we made him even more angry than before..." Eli whispered.

"Agree..."

* * *

~Extra~

"I'm back~!" Kaoru entered the class with his usual easygoing personality. When he looked inside the class, he was surprised to see Keito at his seat while putting his books into his bag.

"Oh, it's just you, vice president? And here I thought Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan were here as well. Anyway, what are you doing here all by yourself? Plus, in this kind of condition too." he fanned himself from the sudden heat that slowly enveloped him.

"Hakaze," Keito stood up as he faced the flirt straight in the eyes.

"Oh, you looked so serious. Though, to be honest, I prefer seeing Umi-chan's serious face instead of yours." he mumbled the last part since he didn't want Keito to overhear his statement. Suddenly, Keito went to him and placed a reassuring hand at Kaoru's shoulder.

"Be grateful that I saved your life from the miserable outcomes." the bespectacled male soon left the class, leaving the flirt all alone in the class. Looking back to where he last saw Keito, he blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

* * *

 **I'm not even going to regret for writing this scene. Kaoru had no idea what happened but it was for the best after all. Hahaha~! Personally, I had paired both Izumi and Nozomi together but somehow, I found another 'person' that is more suitable with Nozomi. Besides, seeing Nozomi and Izumi bickering on one another is much more fun. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed class 3A's cleaning duty scene. I know most of the students from that class in not present but don't fret. They will show up sooner or later. For now, let's just hoped that I can post the next chapter as soon as possible. No promises though but I will try~! See you in the next chapter!**


	6. Class 3B - Cleaning Duty

**We're finally at the end of 'Cleaning Duty' series! Yay~! I'm happy because we're moving to a different chapter after this. More note will be given after the end of this chapter. For now, enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 6: Class 3B – Cleaning Duty

"Huh?! You're canceling the meeting? What do you mean by that, Hibiki?!" Nico yelled in a demanding tone. Hibiki stood in front of her with his arms crossed as he laughed at her reaction.

"Hahahaha~! Exactly as I said! I decided to cancel the meeting because of my responsibility to clean the classroom today!" he answered casually only riling the petite female's anger even more.

"That's it? That's it?! You didn't even care about cleaning the classroom before this! Why now?!" Nico fumed. She found it unacceptable. He had canceled the Theater Club meetings for three straight days and Nico was not happy about it.

"Oh? Weren't you the one that said that I have to play my part as a responsible student of 3B? It is because of your moving words that I forced myself to canceled the meeting, for our class' sake. Surely, you haven't forgotten, Nico-chan?" he asked, a grin formed on his face causing Nico to falter back. Although she did said that before, but using her own words against her was cheating and it irked her.

"Cleaning is not even going to take that long! You're being ridiculous!"

"But of course! 'Ridiculous' is my middle name after all~! How's that, Nico-chan? Did I looked cool from saying that? Hahahaha~!" Hibiki laughed. Nico could half-glared at the male in front of her. As a headache enveloped her, she went over to her favourite classmate.

"Nazuna-kun~! Hibiki is giving me a headache~!" she hugged the blond male from behind as she whined. Nazuna could only let out a sigh as he petted the petite female's head. Whenever Nico felt depressed or dispirited, she would went straight to Nazuna for comfort.

"There, there. I know that feeling, Nico-chin but it can't be helped. This is Wataru-chin were talking about after all..." he consoled the female, smiling at the petite female. Nico smiled a little, feeling at ease by Nazuna's hand as he petted her head. However, that feeling soon disappeared when she heard Hibiki's laugh.

"Well said, Nito-kun! You know me so well~! Well then, I wonder who am I assigned together? Hmm..." Hibiki made his way to the duty roster and searched for the names for today's cleaning duty. Nico rolled her eyes at the eccentric male before calling him out.

"There's no need for that. I'm one of the students that was assigned in the cleaning duty today after all. And I'm 100% sure that you're not assigned in it." Nico crossed her arms. Suddenly, Hibiki turned around and faced the petite female with a big smile on his face.

"Well, how convenient for me then! It looks like we'll be working together, partner~!" he laughed once again, causing Nico to look at him as if he had said something ridiculous.

"What are you talking about? It supposed to be me, Kanata-kun and Leo's turn for today. Actually it's just going to be me since Kanata-kun suddenly disappeared and that idiot, Leo already ran out from the class..." she glanced at the empty seats that belonged to Shinkai Kanata and Tsukinaga Leo.

Apparently, Leo had left the classroom during their lesson when he suddenly shouted something about inspiration. Just like that, he ran out of the class, laughing out loud with no fear of facing the consequences. Even the teacher was left dumbstruck as the scene took place. As for Kanata, he was not even at his seat by the time the teacher ended the lesson and left the class.

Coming back to reality, Nico shook her head before glaring at the eccentric male as she crossed her arms.

"Anyway, my point is that you're just lying about it because you don't want to go for the club activities. Am I right?" she asked and Hibiki just laughed as he usually do.

"That's not true, my dear classmate. If you don't believe me, then see for yourself." he pointed at the duty roster. Still glaring, she went towards the duty roster to see if what he had said was true. But that's impossible, Nico thought to herself. Looking up at the duty roster, surely enough, Hibiki Wataru's name was there, right under Leo's name. However, there's one distinguishing feature that made his name different than the rest of the students' name in it.

 _It was written with pen._

"That's not even official! Not only did you wrote your name under the group for today's cleaning duty, but you're vandalizing this thing!"

"Ahh! How could you Nico-chan? To think you would accused your own classmate for a wrong-doing that he did not committed. What proof do you have to show that I'm the one that vandalize the duty roster?" Hibiki flailed dramatically as he placed one of his hand in front of his heart as if Nico's words had hurt him.

"Isn't it obvious?! I know one thing for sure that you're not even under the same group as me. And then this appeared?" she pointed at Hibiki's name written in pen before pointing back at the male. "Can't you be more obvious?!"

Sensing everything was about to get messy if no one stopped them, Nazuna stepped in and went towards Nico from behind.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Nico-chin, you're not being yourself. So please, calm down..." the blond male held Nico's shoulders as he made her stand still from flailing her arms around. Nico pouted as she looked over at Nazuna.

"For now, let's just focused on cleaning the class. Okay?" he suggested with a smile and Nico's face immediately changed back to normal but not before she glared at the eccentric male at the front of the class. She muttered 'fine' softly before making her way to the locker at the back of the class while Hibiki laughed at the petite female's action.

"Hahahaha! _Amazing_! You're sure are something, Nito-kun. To be able to calm down someone feisty as Nico-chan, I must say, I am impressed~!" he complimented the blond male. Nazuna could only looked at the eccentric male with a worried look.

"I don't see how that managed to impress you..." Nazuna said. Nico noticed that Hibiki wasn't doing anything so she turned around and glared again.

"Hey, Hibiki. Stop wasting time and start helping will you? I'm not going to waste my time spending it all in the class." Nico opened the locker to take out the tools for cleaning. Instead, she opened the locker only to find something else inside. Or more like, someone. There, she found Sakuma Rei, the so-called vampire, sleeping inside the locker as he shifted himself by the sudden brightness that entered the locker.

Looking up, his gaze met with Nico's blank stare before he groaned and covered his eyes with his arm.

"Nico-chan, it's not nice to disturb your elder from their slumber. Even though this locker is a bit uncomfortable than my coffin, I had no choice but to stay here until night approaches. The sun is too strong today so please, can you close the locker and leave me be? Oh, one thing. The tools for cleaning is in the other locker."

SLAM!

"Seriously, what is wrong with this class..." Nico muttered dangerously before opening the other locker and took out the necessary tools. Nazuna could only look at her with sympathize look. He understood that feeling very well. Good thing both of them had each other in the class.

Hibiki, on the other hand, took this chance to calm the fuming female.

"Now, now. There's no need to be all grumpy over small things. Come now, a young lady needs to show the world their best personality. Now then, show us that cute smile of yours." Hibiki patted Nico's back in a friendly way, causing the petite female to look at him. Her cheeks turned into a shade of pink as she pouted. How could she not feel embarrassed when someone call her cute. As much as she wanted to boast for being called so, she knew he was just saying that to ease her anger. Meanwhile, Hibiki's smiling gaze urged her to do it or else he won't stopped bothering her until she did.

"N-Nico Nico Nii..." Nico did her pose, a bit hesitant but at the same time, she was unable to resist doing it. Well, it was called a signature move for a reason.

"Yes! Exactly! Now do it with more oomph!" Hibiki encouraged the female.

"Nico Nico Nii~!

"Too soft! You're too soft! Where is the Nico-chan that I know? Come on, more!" there was a fire inside of Hibiki's eyes as he encouraged the petite female.

"Nico Nico Nii~!" this time, Nico doesn't even hesitate anymore as she did her signature move along with her catchphrase with a lighthearted personality. The duo continued their little antics while Nazuna let out a sigh at the scene.

"Well, at least they're not arguing anymore."

"So noisy. What are they doing anyway?" a deep voice caught Nazuna's attention as he turned around. It was Kiryu Kuro, one of his classmate who had been silent for a while.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Wataru-chin is just cheering Nico-chin up." the blond explained only to receive a questioning look from the red-haired male. Kuro then shifted his gaze to the duo who still haven't stopped fooling around.

"That's right! That's the way you do it! Now do it until I finally said stop!"

"Nico Nico Nii~!" Nico posed again only to froze as she realized that they have been going at it for a while. As her eyes twitched, she looked at the eccentric male who bore a grin on his face.

"...what did you make me do?!" she threw a nearby random object at Hibiki. However, as an evasive person he always been, he managed to dodge the object with ease.

"Hahahaha~! Oh, what a great treat for my heart to see your dazzling smile! You deserved a reward, my friend!" Hibiki took one of Nico's hand before he spun her around and around, non-stop.

"Wahh! Let me go! I'm feeling dizzy, you idiot!" Nico yelled but somehow her words died when her head began to throb by the sudden, quick action before she slowly began to stop. It took her a while to recover from the dizziness as she hold her head in place.

"Hmm, as expected from me, you looked fabulous in that oufit~!" grinning, Hibiki looked at her as he observed her from head to toe. Nico's eyes twitched again as she had enough of the male's nonsense. Just when she was about to scold the male, she saw the surprised look from both Nazuna and even someone like Kuro as they directed it towards her.

"What...?" Nico asked before she tried to look at herself when she noticed she was wearing a different uniform. Well, it's not really a uniform anymore since it looked different than what she had wore. Without saying anything, Hibiki pulled out a full-length mirror out of nowhere and put it in front of the female. The sight she saw from the mirror was enough to make her froze on the spot.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" she screamed at the top of her lungs before she squatted down as she hugged her body, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Somehow, her school uniform had turned, or to be precise, had completely changed into a maid outfit.

"You stupid pervert! What did you do to me?!" she glared at the eccentric male while he laughed.

"Hahahahaha, that, my dear Nico-chan, is what we called... _magic_ ~" he posed as he spoke the last word only to stop as he dodged a duster that was thrown towards him.

"Pervert! This is sexual harassment! I'm telling the teacher!" Nico threatened. However, Hibiki just laughed it out as if that would not caused a problem to him. Nazuna quickly made his way to Nico and put his school blazer around Nico's body which she gladly accepted.

"But I am merely giving you a present! A present worth showing off to the world as they caught mesmerizing your beauty!" Hibiki posed dramatically.

"Wataru-chin, you went too far!" Nazuna scold the eccentric male. Before he could said anything else, the sound of the school bell rang throughout the school. Taking that as a cue, Hibiki ran towards the door. Right before he left the class, he looked over at his classmates with his usual wide smile.

" _Adios_ , my friends! I'll be taking my leave now! Ahahahahaha~!" Hibiki left the classroom as he ran down the hallway, leaving his other classmates behind.

"My uniform..." Nico muttered. Even though Nazuna was right beside her, her words were barely audible.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you..." the blond male asked with a worried tone.

"Where is...my uniform...?" Nico looked at the outfit she was wearing before she suddenly dashed to the door and shouted.

"Hibiki! Give back my uniform!" she ran outside as she searched for the eccentric male. In the end, no one actually bothered to clean the classroom as they all left the class they way it is.

* * *

 **Nico X Nazuna everyone? (** **｡ ‿ ｡** **) Hahahaha~! Yep, there's always that one troublemaker in the class that won't stop causing problems for their classmates. Anyway, that's it! We've reached the end of 'Cleaning Duty'~! Yay~! Since we're out from that theme, it's time to move on to the next one. Next theme will be: the Club activities! Alright~! It's time for those after school activities and see how they act between each other. ╰(✧∇✧╰)**

 **Thank you for taking your time to read my fanfic. It's always a pleasure to read your comments and reviews whenever you leave them. Thank you once again and I'll see you in the next chapter~!**


	7. Theater Club

**Let's begin the Club activities chapters shall we? First of, we'll start off with the Theater Club! As you may know (or maybe not), I think you know which of the μ's that is in this club. So, hopefully you'll find this entertaining as you read it!**

 **BUT WAIT! Just a quick note here! I may have the wrong information here but since I'm diving into the club activity theme, I might as well give a note regarding it. I'm not really well-informed about the school system but what I do know is that, regular students and idol students (plus one producer) are separated. So, I'm guessing, both types of students have different classroom as well as club rooms? Anyway, my point is, I'm not mixing regular students with the idols in their club activities. Although they are students, idols are still idols and they need privacy. But we all know that they went to the same cafeteria. So, I guess that's the only time where regular students and idol students mixed?**

 **So, yeah. I hope you take note of what I'm doing with this fanfic. If somehow I actually got the wrong information, well, I'm just going to stick to my own plan. Why? Because changing the whole thing would be annoying. Wahahaha~! Anyway, no more side talk! Let's start reading~!** **ー** **( ´ ▽ ` )** **ﾉ**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 7: Theater Club

Being a member of the Theater Club, Hokuto was responsible to attend the club activity although he wished that he didn't have to. He packed his stuff before exiting his classroom. Seeing that a certain female wasn't waiting for him outside, he figured she was still in her classroom. Walking down the hallway, Hokuto walked towards Class 2B and knocked the door.

"Excuse me." he opened the door and as he had expected, Honoka was in the class. The female however was too preoccupied with a book in her hands. Confused, Hokuto went towards the female, hoping that she would noticed his presence however, the ginger-haired female didn't even stirred.

"Kousaka, what are you doing?" the male asked, finally caught the female's attention as she turn to her side.

"Oh, Hokuto-kun. I didn't see you there. You surprised me." her surprised looked changed into one of her usual smile.

"I've knocked the door but you were so engrossed by that book that you didn't even noticed me standing there." the male explained as he placed on hand on his hip, indicating that he was waiting for her to move. Honoka softly apologized as she gathered her stuff and exited the classroom with the male. As they walked towards their club room, Honoka opened the previous book as she read it again. Confused, the male looked at the female.

"You know it's dangerous to walk without looking what's in front of you, Kousaka. More importantly, what exactly are you reading?" he asked. The ginger-haired female grinned before she replied.

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure. But Hibiki-senpai told me that I should hold on to it and read it if I had the time." she looked at the book. It was a plain, green-coloured book. It was more of a notebook instead of a reading book. She offered the book for the male to look, "Want to see?"

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Hokuto took a peak beside the female. What he saw inside was nothing more than just a horribly handwritten scripts.

"Aren't those...scripts? No wait, it's a dialogue?" the male inspected more. Upon further inspection, it was indeed a bunch of dialogues with several side notes written among them.

"Yep. And there's a lot of it too." she flipped through the pages in one quick flip, showing the contents of the book.

"Based on the writing, I could guess that it was written by that masked pervert." he let out a sigh before continuing his walk towards their club room. Panicking for being left behind, Honoka put away the book into her bag before catching up to him. As the reached their destination, both of them entered the class only to find one young boy standing at the stage.

"Hokuto-senpai, Honoka-senpai! Good afternoon!" Tomoya greeted the two seniors as Hokuto and Honoka entered the club room.

"Oh, Tomoya-kun! Good afternoon~! What are you doing?" she placed her bag down on one of the chairs in the room before she went to the stage. The young boy let out a sigh before he showed some of the props in his hands at the ginger-haired female.

"Hibiki-senpai asked me to set these things up on the stage while I'm at it. Then he suddenly left me with all of the work while he went to do something else..." he said, a bit annoyed.

"Do you need any help?" Hokuto asked as he came forward to the stage. Tomoya smiled at the male and nodded his head.

"If it doesn't trouble you, sure! Thank you! You guys saved me the time to set these up. Sheesh, that troublesome president. Not only did he left me here all alone, he even demanded to set the stage up to a garden-like scenery."

"Garden? What for?" Honoka asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Even Hokuto was confused with what Hibiki requested for and at the same time, he found it suspicious. Tomoya shrugged his shoulders as he recalled back to the event that happened in the room.

"Who knows? All he said was-"

 _Flashback_

" _A view from a garden~! Imagine this, Tomoya-kun! All alone, in the middle of the night. You stood in the middle of the garden , surrounded by Tsubaki and Erica flowers as the petals dance in the wind..." he said in a soft tone as he struck a thinking pose in the middle of the stage. Suddenly he flailed around as he faced the junior in front of him and posed dramatically._

" _Isn't it romantic in the audience's eyes~?"_

 _End of Flashback_

"-something like that." the young boy explained before he left to set the props up.

"Well, though I understand what he was trying to say but seriously. Tsubaki and Erica flowers? Couldn't he at least picked a proper flower? How depressing..." the boy mumbled to himself. While Honoka looked amused, Hokuto on the other hand, could only stare at the young boy in disbelief. He wasn't directing it to the young boy but the mere thought of what the eccentric male had said, he was beginning to think that something bad was going to happen.

"Hmm, that sounds really familiar..." Honoka mumbled as she processed all the information.

"What is?" Hokuto asked, a bit intrigued but Honoka shook her head before she giggled.

"Hehehe, it's nothing. It's just, Hibiki-senpai may not look like it but he's actually pretty romantic isn't he, Hokuto-kun?" she asked the silent male. Hokuto glanced at the female as she carried one of the props but due to the heaviness of the prop, she was struggling to pick it up. Sighing, Hokuto went over and helped the female.

"I wouldn't call him that..." he muttered. It took them a while to set the stage as they knew very well how their president's personality was. Perfection was the first priority when it comes to Theater Club. If the stage doesn't matched Hibiki's standard, he would ordered them around until he was finally content with the setting. It was tiresome and they will do whatever it took for them to prevent it from happening again.

"Oh~? Are you done setting the stage?" a male's voice spoke up, causing the three students inside the room to look over at the door. There, Hibiki strolled in, arms crossed as he observed the stage. The smile on his face showed that he was impressed and most certainly pleased by the work.

"Well, look at that! That's one amazing setting." a female voice spoke this time and Honoka immediately turned around to face the owner of the voice.

"Nico-chan!" she smiled and Nico waved at them with a grin. The petite female went towards the group as she watched the stage, amazed by the beautiful setting.

"Did you guys set this up?" she asked the trio.

"Yep! Well, Tomoya-kun did most of it before Hokuto-kun and I arrived." the ginger-haired female glanced at the young boy before they grinned together.

"Amazing! This is going to be absolutely amazing!" the eccentric male suddenly spoke up, surprising the rest of the members as they looked over at their president as he knelt in front of the stage with arms wide open.

"Hey, Hibiki. Don't waste our time by standing here. What are we supposed to do now?" Nico asked, irritated at the eccentric man's behaviour. If he just called them out here just to help set the stage up, she will definitely blew up at that instant.

"Ah! That's right! Listen up, my beloved members! Since I'm in a good mood today, I've decided to do something more interesting for today's practice. How's that? Aren't you grateful to have someone like me as your president? Hahahahaha~!" Hibiki laughed as Tomoya and Nico half-glared at the male. It wasn't just because they found it annoying but they knew he was planning something.

"And? What is it this time that you'd bring for today's practice?" Hokuto asked, clearly worried over what the eccentric male had in mind. Hibiki grinned before he went up the stage.

"Today, I've decided...to give you guys a test!"

"Huh?" everyone respond in unison. Hibiki laughed at their respond before he began explaining. Basically, he wanted to see how well can they act without proper or official scripts. He wanted to draw out everyone's spontaneous side as they acted towards a scenario or events.

"And thus, I present you...the 'Spontaneous Act Test'~!" he posed dramatically.

"Lame..."

While the other members let out a sigh, only Honoka was impressed by Hibiki's announcement. Looking over at the Honoka, Hokuto could not helped but be worried for the ginger-haired female since she was...gullible. It was certainly amusing to see how impressed she was though she should have known how the president himself acts. He always have a hidden intention whenever he planned something big like the test he just spoke off.

"Anyway! I don't want to waste any more time so let's get started~!"

"Hey, wait a minute! Since this is a 'so-called' test, can't you at least give us a proper rules?" Nico crossed her arms.

"Like I said, all you had to do is act spontaneously as I give you a scenario. From how good you act, I will give you marks according to how well you performed it~!"

"So, it's an individual test?" Tomoya asked, slightly interested though he was still skeptical.

"Nope, you'll do it as a pair. And it must be a boy and girl pair." he said and almost instantly, everyone had the same thought.

'He's planning something.'

Although a bit hesitant, they quickly decided on the pair. Nico was paired up with Tomoya while Hokuto was paired up with Honoka. Although he rarely showed it, he was glad whenever he was paired with the ginger-haired female. He could almost say, that he felt safe with her. Still, what bothered him was what the eccentric male planning to do.

"Excellent~! Now, let's start the test. Let's go with you two first!" he pointed at Nico and Tomoya. Sighing, Nico went up the stage with Tomoya following from behind.

"Alright, let's start with Nico-chan first. But first, let's a pick a scenario for you~!" Hibiki suddenly pulled out a small box out of nowhere. Probably his magic trick but no one cared at that time. Hibiki shook the box a couple of times before rummaging inside it. Once he did, he took one folded paper out and opened it.

"Oh? Now this is interesting. Nico-chan," he grinned at the petite female and in return, she gave him a glare. Hibiki revealed the paper to Nico as he showed it at her, "Your scenario is, self-pitying your terrible life~!"

"WHAT?!" she yelled as she stomped her way to the male and snatched the paper from him.

"What is this?! Self-pitying your terrible life? Is there even a scenario like this?! Plus, the supporting character is my personal servant? Why would I even need to self-pity my life if I had my own personal servant?!" she demanded an answer at the eccentric male but he just grinned.

"U-Um, is it safe to assume that the servant character...is me?" Tomoya questioned his position but cast it aside for he fully knew the answer to that question.

"I should have thought so..." Hokuto pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched the scene in front of him. There was bound to be something off. If that was one of the scenario Hibiki had come up with, he definitely wouldn't want to think about the rest. Honoka let out a nervous chuckle.

"Poor, Nico-chan..."

"Alright, no more wasting time. I don't have a lot of time so we better do this fast! Come on, hop to it." he clapped his hands as a signal to begin. Glaring, Nico went back up the stage before getting herself ready. After a long silence, suddenly Nico broke into a sob. It was so suddenly it even surprised Hibiki himself. After what felt like a long time of sobbing for no reason, Nico finally began her first sentence.

"I've had enough... Why must he always pushed me away? All the things that I have done for him, does he not see how hard I'm working for his sake? Why...?" she sobbed. The other members watched in silence, waiting for something to happen. Even Hibiki himself who always fooling around was keeping quiet for he knew how important it was when it comes to acting.

"Tomoya-kun?" she wiped her supposedly crocodile tears as she looked around at the stage. Suddenly, she broke back into tears as her whole body went limp and fell to the floor. "Where are you? Where has my servant Tomoya-kun, gone to?"

"Pfft-" Hibiki snickered as he tried to hold his laugh.

"Did she really have to mention the word 'servant'? Good grief..."

"I know I'm not supposed to laugh, but it's so hard..." Honoka muffled against her palm as she tried not to laugh.

Taking that sentence as his cue, Tomoya hesitantly came out to the stage while acting as if he was searching for something. When he noticed the petite female, he went slowly towards her.

"My lady, is that you?" he asked, his expression showed how worried he was. Looking up to see Tomoya, Nico looked surprised but at the same time relief.

"Tomoya-kun. My dear, sweet servant, Tomoya-kun, I thought you had left me..." Tomoya smiled as he extended his hand to Nico and she gladly took it.

"What happened my lady? Why would you be here all alone?" he asked as he brought Nico and himself to a nearby bench and sat down.

"Tomoya-kun, I'm...tired of my life. It's so...frustrating..." Nico's expression changed as if she was in pain. "I've always been a good girl. Always following my father's demands and advices and yet, why? Why does he always throw it aside when I have done so much for him? Am I not good enough? Was my effort in vain...? I don't know. I don't know anymore..." Nico cried, sobbing in between. So far, it was pretty good. It was hard to see it as an act since it looked so real. Nico was considered as one of the best actress in the Theater Club.

"I...want to run away."

"B-But! My lady, t-that is risky!" Tomoya hesitated. He was not sure of how to proceed the story. Although he was considered as a good actor as well, he was not good when it comes to spontaneous acts. It would always give him a dilemma on how to help with how the story should be.

"Tomoya-kun, you are my servant right...?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"H-Huh? Y-Yes, yes I am..."

"Then as a servant, you'll listen to my request right?"

"Yes, my lady..."

"Then..." she mumbled and everyone was beginning to feel anxious. Tomoya was beyond nervous. He could even felt his sweats forming at the side of his head as he waited for the petite female's answer.

"This is...turning out to be quite romantic..." Honoka whispered to Hokuto, who still remained emotionless but nonetheless, nodded his head.

"Then...if I want to run away and marry your brother, will you allow that?" her eyes glowed with excitement as the tone of her voice changed as well.

"Huh...?" everyone said in unison.

"What...?" Tomoya asked. Confused as he stood there dumbstruck by the sudden statement.

"After all, we had been in contact in secrets and, I just could not handle this long distance relationship anymore~! Both your brother and I are in love after all. And all of that talk where he will take me away from here...is like a dream come true..." Nico posed as she gazed dreamily at the sky. Tomoya was practically confused by the turning events. The others as well.

"Brother? As in...big brother Nazuna?" the young boy asked. Just from his name, Nico whipped her head to face the young boy. Her eyes were twinkling in excitement.

"Yes, him! Your ever dependable big brother. He was a sweet person who would always listened to my problems. Cheered me up, helped me sneak out from the mansion, accompanied me. Ah~! What a sweet man he was~!" Nico acted all embarrassed as she complimented the man she was talking about.

"Okay, cut." Hibiki interrupted as he spoke up.

"What-? What did I do wrong?!" Nico asked, hands on both sides of her hip. For the first time, Hibiki had a confused frown adorning his face.

"Nico-chan, I told you that you should be self-pitying yourself. Then how did that went into a love-struck behaviour? Plus, that boy," he pointed to Tomoya.

"...is your servant. He should be the one that cheered you up, helped you out and all that. The poor boy felt left out when you suddenly brought out another subject which we all know Tomoya-kun couldn't handle adapting to sudden scenarios. Look at him, he's all broken now."

Tomoya was indeed looked like a lifeless person right now. He was too dumbstruck by what just happened. His head was messed up by what he should have done. Nico softly apologized to the young boy by petting his head. Hibiki let out a sigh as he crossed his arms.

"I know you adored Nito-kun more than any of our classmates but you could have at least picked up any of us in this room than someone completely not related in this club..." Hibiki stroke his chin in wonder. That irked Nico as she turned around and faced the eccentric male.

"Hey, at least I used a good example of someone who I liked, okay? Unlike you, Nazuna-kun is way more better!" as soon as she said that, Hibiki felt like a lightning have struck him as he pressed his hands on top of his heart.

"AH! How cruel~! My heart couldn't bear this pain of rejection. Nico-chan, how could you say that when you know how I adore you as well..."

"Adore? Oh, please. Do you think I'm easily swayed by your words? Besides, I still haven't forgive you for that maid outfit accident!" the petite female yelled and Hibiki went back to his eccentric behaviour again as he laughed out loud. The two continued their bickering as Tomoya still stood there, lifeless as he wondered what he should have done, once again.

"S-Should we stop them?" Honoka asked as she glanced at the silent male beside her. The only respond she got out from him was just a long sigh.

* * *

"Alright, since Tomoya-kun is in no condition to act, let's just proceed with you guys." Hibiki glanced at the other pair. His eyes signaled them to get up the stage and they did. Nico had to take care of Tomoya by making sure he was not 'dead'.

"Let's start with Honoka-chan first. Let's see..." he rummaged inside the box before he pulled out one paper from it. Hokuto glanced at the ginger-haired female and he could see how nervous she was. Personally, he wasn't worried because he knew she was not a bad actress. Plus, her acting looked more natural when she was being herself. That was one of her useful quirks in the Theater Club.

"Now this is interesting~! Honoka-chan, you got a love confession scenario~!"

' _I take it back._ ' Hokuto thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Although he did say that Honoka was not a bad actress, he couldn't helped but be worried about where this was heading to. Without even given a chance to say anything, Hibiki continued on as he explained the roles for both of them.

"So, Honoka-chan will be playing the role of a confessor. And you, Hokuto-kun will be the one that Honoka-chan is going to confess to. Your actual relationship in the scenario, I don't know~! That's for you to decide during the act. Alright, no more wasting time. Let's get started shall we?" he clapped his hand twice and both of them took their place. Honoka was standing in the middle of the stage while Hokuto was at the side of the stage. After a long silence, Honoka finally began her first line.

"Oh, what should I do? Hokuto-kun will be here any sooner or later..." Honoka acted nervous as she paced around on the stage. "Should I just be direct? Or should I just...give him hints instead? Uwahh! What should I do?"

"And what are you doing over there, mumbling on about?" Hokuto spoke up, surprising the ginger-haired female as she turned around to face him.

"Hokuto-kun, you're here!" the tone of her voice sounded panicked, which was a good sign. That's just how the act should be. Hokuto walked over to the female as Honoka suddenly acted all shy and nervous.

"Well then, is there a reason why you would called me out here? As you may know, I don't like to waste my time over something trivial." Hokuto said. Honoka looked at him, surprised. Hokuto raised one of his eyebrows, indicating that he was waiting for her.

"O-Oh, yeah. About that... I'm sorry I had to drag you out here. But I promised it's nothing as trivial as it is..." she said as looked away. But then she stared back into his eyes with a smile "...it's very much important to me."

A little bit surprised, Hokuto silently complimented the female. She was good at reading the atmosphere and she knew how to use the right lines at the right time.

"Well then, let's go and find somewhere we could talk privately." he said as he walked towards a gazebo at the side of the stage. If there's a place where romance started in a garden setting, it's the gazebo. Once they have reached the gazebo, both Honoka and Hokuto leaned forward to the railings that faced the audience.

"So, what is it?" Hokuto asked as he encouraged the female beside him to say something. Honoka was silent for a while to the point that Hokuto thought she was nervous from the act.

"Hey, Hokuto-kun? Remembered when we were young? This garden was our special place when we first met each other." she finally spoke. Glancing to her, he kept silent as if urging her to continue. Honoka had a look of nostalgic written on her face which Hokuto was slightly impressed on how she could used her expression so well.

"Do you remembered? That time where you were teaching me how to do a flower crown? Hehehe, it was fun to see your frustrated face when you had to tell me again and again on how to do it properly. It was one of the most memorable thing that I had." she giggled and Hokuto couldn't help but blush.

"Really? Huh, has it really been that long?" he asked, wondering what Honoka was trying to do with the current event. He knew she was trying to build up the atmosphere and he commended that.

"But you know, what made me thought that it was memorable wasn't the part when we made those flower crowns..." she smiled as she looked at the ground. Just when Hokuto was about to say something, Honoka cut him off. "It was when you made a promise to marry me and take me away from here."

That surprised him. It was surprising enough to make the male froze on the spot. Even he could hear the sound of surprised gasp from Hibiki and Nico but he could not bring himself to look over to them so he fixed his gaze to the ginger-haired female.

"And I'm still waiting. No matter how long it takes, I'll continue to wait. Even if I had to disappoint my parents, even if I had to decline other people's proposal, even if I had to wait another more years to come. I know deep down, that this is what I wanted. I wanted to be with you. Even if I had to wait for you, in this garden, all alone. Because I know, this is where you and I will find each other." she finally looked at the now stunned male as she locked her eyes with his with a smile.

"I love you, Hokuto-kun." she confessed. That was it. Hokuto was officially broken. He was left speechless. He didn't knew that Honoka could said those words so casually. First of all, he never even expected her to be so good in acting especially when it comes to romance. In fact, he couldn't even tell whether that was an act or was it real anymore.

Suddenly, his mind clicked. What if it really was real? He did said that Honoka was a good actress when she was being herself. Was that confession a part of her true self? His mind was full of questions that he disregarded the female in front of him, causing her to falter back.

"It's fine, if you still can't find the answer yet. I know it was sudden and I know I can't force you. I'm sorry..." she took a step back, causing the male to panic as she was about to leave him.

"Wait-!" he unconsciously pulled her hand back as he made her faced him. Their face were so close to one another that both of them froze on the spot. Slowly pulling his face away from Honoka, Hokuto tried to say something but no words came out. He was speechless. It took him by surprised when he saw her expression. It was that pained look on her face that made his body moved on its' own.

"I-I...I feel the same way..." he mumbled, looking away.

"Huh?" the female looked at him, tilting her head. Hokuto send a half-glare look to the female before he regained his composure.

"I don't like to repeat myself but, I will...for you. I feel the same way. I was just surprised that you still remembered that promise, that's all. But..." a sudden burst of confidence overwhelmed him as he looked straight into her eyes.

"I thought you had forgotten completely about it. That's why I never brought it up. Besides, we were still young. I was under the impression that you regarded it as a childish act. But hearing all of those words right out of your mouth, I...was overwhelmed. To think that you actually remembered, I couldn't asked for more." Hokuto said. At this point, even he wondered whether this was all part of his acting nature or was it his real feelings.

"I love you too..."

"Hokuto-kun..." feeling her face starting to heat up, she looked to the ground in embarrassment. Hokuto too, suddenly felt a bit nervous so he decided that they should stopped here.

"I think that's enough for the acting. What do you think-" his word was cut shortly after he turned to face the audience when all he saw was the grinning faces belonged to Hibiki and Nico herself. It was not their expression that stopped him from completing his sentence but because of what they were holding in their hands.

"Were you recording the whole time...?" Hokuto asked, his tone was dangerously low. Honoka realized what Hokuto just said and turned around as well. Her face went completely red when she realized that the two seniors were recording their act in their phones.

"Wait, don't tell me..."

"Oops, looks liked I've run out of time. I had to go meet with Eichi before the school ended. So, I leave the rest to you guys~!" he quickly ran out of the room with his phone in his hand.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm just gonna go and find Nazuna-kun right now because, Tomoya-kun is not doing too well. So yeah, I think that's all for today's activity. Hope you guys can clean up the props before you leave. I'll see you tomorrow then~! Bye~!" she dragged the still-lifeless boy out of the room with her, leaving the pair on the stage.

"Well, that was awkward..." Honoka mumbled, still embarrassed by what had happened while Hokuto nodded his head. Though his mind had several questions regarding the true intention of the eccentric male, he found that what bothered him the most was the fact that Honoka looked calm when they were in the middle of acting.

"Kousaka...if you don't mind me asking this," he asked and the ginger-haired female looked at him. Hokuto was hesitating but nonetheless, he asked.

"How did you managed to say all of those lines? I mean, is it not embarrassing?" he looked away, a blush creeping up his face. Honoka giggled, causing the male to blush even more. She shook her head, smiling at the male.

"I'm not telling~" she answered as she went down the gazebo and began to clean up the stage. "Then, how about you? What do you feel about them?"

"It's embarrassing..." he muttered as he helped out the ginger-haired female. Honoka giggled once again before they continued their cleaning. As they cleaned the stage, Honoka spoke up.

"You know, when you said all of those things back to me. I was completely shocked." she said. "To be honest with you, I might actually fall for you if you said those things seriously."

Stopping from what he just did, he send a half-glared look to the female before he told her to finish her cleaning. Giggling, Honoka comply and did her work without noticing the blush that was appearing on the male's face.

* * *

 **And this is what I called, 'Ship Tease'~! Hahaha, anyway, I'm REALLY sorry for not updating this chapter as soon as I could! I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting myself to write such a long chapter. I was thinking about writing from 1000 to 2000 words per chapters but this one was, damn. Good god, I should have at least try to write this down as soon as I can. But the more I type this chapter, the more I was losing interest in writing it. So I had to force myself to write other one-shots first just in case I couldn't forced myself to finish this one. But hey, I did it~! Yay for me~!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Tell me your thoughts on this chapter and personally, tell me what do you think of Honoka X Hokuto. Did you liked it? Again, leave your comments and review down below so that I can use your advices or notes for future references. I appreciate it! And I'll see you in the next chapter! Peace~!**


	8. Light Music Club

**On to the next chapter, this time it's the Light Music Club~! Whoo~! Personally, this chapter will be my fave because there's a certain ship I'm shipping in this chapter~! Anyway, I won't tell who they are and I will not make them official yet so yeah. Let's all just wait for that moment to come. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed this chapter~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 8: Light Music Club

Unlike the rest of the clubs in Yumenosaki Private Academy, Light Music Club never started their activities on time. It was due to the fact that their president, Sakuma Rei didn't like to begin their activities when the sun was still shining brightly. Even so, the members were responsible to do their own activities so skipping was not an option. For Maki, it was an opportunity.

Not only did she have the time to compose a new song for μ's, but she was also given the time to relax in the club room while practicing. Maki never really considered of relaxing in the club room since she prefer hanging out at the garden terrace with fresh air and wide open space. However, this time, she decided to hang around in the club room instead.

Once she was right in front of the club room, she heard a voice yelling from inside. Letting out a sigh, she knew immediately that the voice belonged to Koga. Probably complaining, she thought. She braced herself as she opened the door and there she saw the owner of the voice, shouting at Sakuma Rei, their president. The oldest male looked like he wasn't paying attention to anything that Koga spouted. As soon as she opened the door, both of the male's attention went to her direction.

"Oh, Maki-chan~ You finally came~" the oldest male went over to the red-haired female and give her a hug. Maki let out a sigh and hugged the male back lightly. At first, she was creeped out by his affection towards her but after a while, she had gotten used to it.

"Listen to me, dammit! And stop hugging her! It's creepy!" Koga snapped as he realized that he was ignored by Rei. The oldest male however, smiled at him while hugging Maki.

"Oh? But isn't it normal for a father to show his affection to his own daughter?" he asked and that irked Koga the most.

"No, it's not normal! You're not even related to begin with!" he pointed at the oldest male. Maki let out a sigh as she knew fully well that both of them won't stop until someone intervened, and that someone would be her.

"Okay, okay. That's enough. I didn't came here to see you two fighting. And Rei-senpai, how long are you going to hug me anyway?" she looked at the male beside her with an irritated face. However, Rei didn't even flinched or hurt by her words and actions, instead he smiled at her.

"Oh? Resisting your father's affection? I get it, I get it. You are in that rebellious phase after all." he said, nodding his head in understanding. Letting go of her, Maki was finally able to relax herself as she was finally freed from Rei's embrace.

"Oi, Maki." Koga called out, causing the red-haired female to glance at him.

"Where's the twins? Aren't you always walking with them before coming here?" he crossed his arms, his cold gaze met with her calm and composed look. She let out a sigh before telling them what happened to them, more specifically about Hinata.

The oldest twin apparently had a huge stomachache due to yesterday's incident. Apparently, the Aoi twin's father bought an ice-cream, specifically for Hinata. Although their father had advised not to eat so much, Hinata's sweet tooth eventually got the best of him. So, he ate it all up. In return, he got a stomachache. A **HUGE** stomachache. Maki still remembered when Hinata kept on asking the teachers in every different lesson to excuse him to the toilet until she lost count. It was weird to see Hinata's scrunched up face where he should always be smiling and grinning. It was so unlike of Hinata to be making that face.

"For real...?" Koga muttered as he tried to imagine the oldest twin in that condition, only to shake the thought away.

"Hmm, so that's why he ran away when I saw him. I thought for sure he hated me all of the sudden..." Rei said out loud in wonder.

"Ha! As if anyone would actually like you!" Koga remarked, glaring at the oldest male.

"Kukuku, that's not true. I have Maki-chan who loves me-" before he could even finished his sentence, Maki shoved a bottle she had in her bag in front of his face, immediately silenced him.

"Okay, we all know that I loved you like a father. So, take these and rest up okay?" she placed the bottle into Rei's hand. Inside the bottle was his favourite drink, tomato juice. Just when Maki thought the oldest male had calmed down, she was immediately hugged once again by the same male, completely caught her by surprise.

"See? This is why I considered you as my most beloved daughter. Such a thoughtful child. I am blessed to have you~" he complimented the red-haired female while petting her head in an affectionate manner. While trying to escape from his embrace, she gave a pleading look at the grey-haired male in front of her, who had an irritated look on his face.

"Gahh! That's it! Stop getting all lovey dovey with her! She doesn't even liked it when you did that!" Koga yelled and pulled Maki's arm, prying her away from the male but Rei's grip around Maki was suprisingly strong that Koga had trouble of getting her out from his embrace.

"Hm~? Doggie, are you jealous that I'm the only one allowed to shower my daughter with my affection?"

"The hell does that mean?! I'm just helping 'cause obviously she's uncomfortable with you!" he pulled harder. Unfortunately for Maki, she was getting suffocate between the two. She even regretted asking the grey-haired male for help because he was not helping to make things better at all.

"Oh~? So doggie was being considerate about my daughter's well-being. I see, I see. I guess even a good doggie like you wants attention from my daughter. Very well then, I leave my daughter's care in your hands." he let go of Maki all of the sudden, causing Koga to fall backward, pulling along Maki as both of them fell to the ground. Good thing Koga cushioned her from the impact but he wasn't pleased by that at all.

"You vampire bastard! You did that on purpose!" he sat up from the floor along with Maki still recovering from the impact on his chest as he glared hatefully at the oldest male. Rei just shrugged his shoulder with a smile.

"Ah, I see you saved my daughter from the impact of the fall. You really are a good doggie~" he complimented the grey-haired male with a nod of approval.

"Good doggie my ass! I'm a wolf, not a dog!" he retorted.

"And you-" he mentioned to Maki, who was still laying above him but he stopped when he saw the red-haired female glaring at him. "W-What's with the glare? Anyway, just how long are you going to stay on top of me?!"

"Ah, geez! Well you certainly didn't help make the situation better at all. How thoughtless of you..." she huffed, crossing her arms and Koga was not pleased by the tone she was using at him. He had helped her out and what did he got out of it? A complaint? He won't take it.

"It's not my goddamn fault that the vampire bastard didn't let go! Besides, you were the one that asked for **MY** help so I did! Be grateful that I even helped you out!" he retorted, irritated by the accusation. Maki was equally irritated as well. With that attitude of his, her level of patience was about to snap but she managed to keep it in control. She had been through worse and this accident is merely one of those little things that could happened in the club anytime.

"Ah, forget it. What happened, happened." she pushed all her negative thoughts and anger towards the grey-haired male away and decided that it was best to let it go. Just when she thought everything had settled down, there comes another walking problem who casually strolled inside the club room. And that walking problem goes by the name of Hinata.

"I'm back~! Man, my stomach really went through a lot! So, what's up-" before he could even finished his sentence, he was caught by surprised by the sight in front of him.

"Brother, why are you standing at the front of the door-" Yuta came in and ended up in the same state as his older twin was. The other members of the club couldn't blamed the twins for being surprised. Who could blame them when the sight in front of them involved Maki sitting on top of Koga on the floor? The awkward silence in the room only made it more awkward than it should be.

"Well, this is awkward..." Rei mumbled as he took a sip of his tomato juice. Maki and Koga glared at the oldest senior as if they were saying how he could be so relax in this situation.

Suddenly a flashing sound came from Hinata, grinning at them while holding his smartphone up. Everyone knew he just took a picture of Maki and Koga and that was not a good sign.

"I've obtained...a scandalous news!" Hinata did a victory pose while holding his smartphone up high up in his hand. Just when Koga was about to lash out at the grinning male, Hinata immediately held his stomach as his face changed to the one that looked like he was in pain.

"Oh god, it's happening again! Be right back!" he dashed out of the room, holding his stomach as he left the club room.

"Again, brother?!" Yuta called out. Looking at the other members, he gave a clumsy grin before chasing after Hinata. "Wait up!"

As the twins left, the club room once again filled with awkward silence. Remembered the time where Maki said that her level of patience was about to snap but she kept her cool for the sake of her image? Well, screw it. She suddenly got up and went towards the door, leaving both seniors behind, confused by her actions.

"And where are you going?!" Koga asked, as harsh as he used to be. Maki's blank gaze however, managed to keep him in place, silenced by her mere 'normal' gaze.

"Shut up and stay there..." she said. Her tone was normal but both of them knew there was something hidden inside that 'normal' tone she was using. She left the room and all that the two males could hear was a silence. That is, until a shrill scream could be heard throughout the school.

"ARGH! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Don't hit me there! My stomach is still sensitive!"

* * *

No one dared to ask Maki on what she just did or why she did it. She stood in front of the twins with Hinata's smartphone in her hand as she tried to find the picture that the older twin had taken previously. She had one purpose for using Hinata's smartphone and that is to delete the picture and made sure it doesn't even existed anymore.

"Maki-chan is a sadist... Yuta-kun, rub my belly please..." Hinata laid down on the floor, lifeless as he had endured the torture Maki gave to him. Yuta let out a sigh as he complied what his older twin wished for and rubbed his belly. Rei, however, chuckled as he recalled back the whole event.

"Well, it was quite surprising to see that my daughter had a 'wild' personality that even I overlooked at. I'm blaming it all on you, doggie." he said as he glanced at Koga with a smirk.

"Haa?! Why the hell are you blaming it on me?!" he glared at the oldest senior. Rei continued to chuckle which added more fuel to Koga's anger until Maki spoke up, annoyed by all the distracting noise.

"Alright, alright. Just be quiet or you'll face the same punishment as I gave to Hinata." she said as she glared at the grey-haired male. Koga muttered something that she couldn't heard well but she ignored it as she had something more important to deal with. She tapped several times on Hinata's smartphone before giving it back to the owner.

"There. I hope you learned your lesson. If you dare to pull that stunt again to me, I will make sure that you regret it for messing with me~" she gave them her infamous sly smile.

"Uwahh! Mama is scary! Mama Maki is mean~!" Hinata and Yuta cried together as they shrunk away from the female's intense yet playful glare.

"Who are you calling me 'Mama'?" crossing her arms, she let out a sigh by the statement the Aoi twins said.

"Hmm, that's not right. Maki-chan is my daughter and since I've treated all of you as my children, she is more likely a devilish, little sister to all of you~" Rei corrected the twin's statement, smiling as he pictured all of them together as a family.

"That's not the point!" the twin retorted, still shaking in the corner of the room as they tried to stay away from Maki's gaze.

"More like a sadistic princess..." Koga muttered but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Maki blushed at the word 'princess' but it disappeared as she realized that he meant it as a mocking statement.

"And you're our beloved pet dog. Oh wait, pet wolf." Maki mocked back as she rolled her eyes in a mocking manner.

"Why you, cheeky little-" just when he was about to go to her and lashed out, he was cut off when Rei pulled the back of Koga's collar and held him on the spot.

"Now, now, doggie. Remember, she is my most beloved daughter and princess. And the same goes to you. She's your owner so treat her nicely." as soon as the oldest senior said that, the grey-haired male pushed away Rei's hand from his collar as he glared at him.

"Now why the hell would I do that, huh?!" he asked.

"Because you're a dog." Maki and Rei replied out flatly as if they just said the most obvious thing. Frustrated, Koga growled as he stomped away from the duo not before he glared at them.

"Screw you guys! I'm done dealing with your bullshits!" he dragged a seat and sat far away from them and began setting up his guitar. After plugging his guitar into an amplifier, he rocked out to his guitar as hard as he could, getting all of his frustrations and anger out of him.

Looking over at the irritated male, both Maki and Rei shrugged their shoulders as they watched him rocking out to his guitar. It took them a while to get the grey-haired male to get over his anger but somehow they managed to do so but in return, none of them get the chance to do any proper practice for today's club activities.

"Well, there's always next time." she mumbled. After all, Light Music Club had always been that kind of club where practices weren't a big issue because there's bound to be something else that will take place in the club room, everyday.

* * *

~Extra~

"Hey, Koga. Can I ask you a favour?" Maki asked as she approached the grey-haired male who was packing his bag.

"It depends. What is it this time?" he slung his bag over his shoulder while waiting for the red-haired female to speak up.

"Actually," she hesitated, causing the grey-haired male to raise one of his eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Both my papa and mama had an emergency call for work. So, I'm walking back home, alone..."

"HAA?!" Maki knew that was going to be his reaction so she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. So, I was thinking. Can you walked me back home?" she asked, her expressionless face made it seemed as if she was not being serious. Koga stared at her in disbelief before shaking his head.

"And what makes you think that I would actually helped you?!" he growled, glaring at the her but she didn't even flinched but continued to look at him with her usual blank face.

"Because you're my beloved dog." she stated.

"You say that again and I will leave you in the middle of the road..." he left the classroom with Maki smiling smugly at her victory while following him from behind.

* * *

 **Done and done~! Ohohohoho, my fave ship~! My _FAVE_ ship~! So, can you guess the characters of the ship tease in this chapter? Oh, I can't wait to actually do a lemon one-shot between these two~! Yes, as you may guessed, I'm planning on making a lemon one-shots between the pairings in this crossover but NO, not in this fanfic. It's for another one which I will do it in the future. Just not yet~! **

**Anyway, make sure to leave a comment and a review of this chapter down below! I know this chapter is not that long as the previous one, but I really did my best not to spoil too much about the characters relationship in this fanfic! For now, I'm just focusing on building up that parameter between them~! Anyway, see you next time~! ( ´ ▽ ` )** **ﾉ**


	9. Tennis Club

**I swear, that this chapter might be the most random and ridiculous scene I've ever thought of. Shows just how dull I am. Wahaha~! Anyhow, I present you a new chapter featuring the Tennis Club~! Huhuhu~! Some may know who is in the club and some may not know but without further ado, let's begin reading~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 9: Tennis Club

Hanayo hummed to herself as she packed her stuff into her bag. When the petite girl hummed to herself, it could only meant that she was in a good mood. It was given when everyone could literally saw her grinning from time to time and smiling throughout the day. Some even mistook that she might have a fever from the constant smiling all day long.

"Hanayo." a voice called out and the brunette looked up only to face her red-haired female classmate, Maki.

"Oh, Maki-chan. Are you going to your club now?" she asked as she put away the last item into her school bag and picked up a big basket at the side of her desk.

"Maybe later, I think I'm going to stay away from that place for a while..." she said as she recalled a previous event that happened not too long ago but she shook the thought away. When the red-haired female saw the basket, she raised one of her eyebrows before smiling at the brunette.

"Today's your turn huh?" she asked and the only reply she got from the shy female is a soft giggle. The brunette showed what was inside the big basket and Maki could saw a lot of neatly arranged sandwiches inside. "I did my very best to make these. Hopefully, everyone enjoys it~!"

Smiling at Hanayo's positive attitude, Maki knew that she doesn't have to worry about the brunette. She made her way outside the class, waving at Hanayo. "Well, have fun then."

"Hehehe, Maki-chan too~! Don't get too carried away." she smiled as wide as she could, causing the red-haired female to blush and looked away.

"What does that mean? I don't get it." she mumbled and she left the classroom, not before she waved goodbye at the brunette. Hanayo took her school bag along with the big basket as she made her way out of the class. She rushed towards the tennis club room and head towards the female locker section. Taking note that no one was inside, she changed into her tennis uniform without having to worry about someone else in the room.

After changing, she took one last look inside the big basket. She was happy when she saw all the sandwiches that she made for the members of the Tennis Club. It had become a thing in their club where everyday, one member will be in charged of preparing a light snack after practice. In fact, today was the day she was in charged of it and she decided to go with sandwiches.

"I should go and wait at the tennis court." she took her tennis racket along with the basket before leaving the locker room. A she jogged towards the tennis court, she could saw someone else sitting down near a shaded area. Upon getting closer to the tennis court, she could finally guessed who that person was. It was Yuuki Makoto, her crush.

' _Ekk! It's him! Oh no, what should I do? No one is here yet and I'm all alone with him. Uwahh~! What should I do? B-But, this might be the only chance for me to talk more with Makoto-senpai..._ ' Hanayo thought to herself as she panicked from faraway. Unfortunately, the bespectacled male saw the fidgeting female and called out to her with a wave.

"Oi~! Hana-chan~! Over here, over here!" he motioned her to come over and sat with him at the shaded area. Surprised by the sudden call, she nervously made her way to the male.

"G-Good afternoon, Makoto-senpai." she bowed her head out of respecting the older senior, blushing slightly. Makoto laughed at the action and waved it off.

"Nah, you don't need to act all modest like that. And good afternoon to you too." he patted the ground next to him, indicating for her to sit down and Hanayo gladly complied but sat a bit farther away from the male. She didn't mean to act distant with him but she was too nervous to control herself.

"You're early today?" he asked with his usual smile and Hanayo could not help but blushed. Looking down at the ground, she nodded her head. It was true because Hanayo would always arrived early for their club activities but then, it made her wondered. Usually, by the time she arrived, the others should have arrived as well.

"W-Well, I've always came early but, shouldn't the others arrived at the same time too?" she asked and Makoto tilted his head. Upon realizing the fact that no one else haven't arrived yet, he did found it weird.

"Now that you mentioned it. Where are they? Surely it didn't take that long to change?" he looked over at the building where their club room was in. It didn't even took that long to walk from the building to the tennis court.

"I think I'll go and checked them up. See if they're inside." he got up from the ground and dusted himself. Looking at the female, he smiled. "Will you be fine waiting here alone?"

Hanayo didn't want to trouble the male so she just nodded her head. Chuckling, Makoto left for the building while he waved at her. Just when Hanayo was about to wave back, he already turned away, preventing him from looking at her. Sighing, she slumped her shoulder as she realized that she just missed one of the chance to talk to him.

To be honest, the only reason why she joined the tennis club was to get closer to the bespectacled male. She had her eyes on him since the day she entered Yumenosaki Private Academy when she accidentally bumped into him. The bumping not only caused both of them to fall down but it also made Makoto's glasses dropped from his face. It was at that moment, she realized who she just saw. A model that she admired and can only be seen in magazines was right in front of her, in the flesh.

Ever since then, she had never stopped looking at him, hoping that he would noticed her. Well, he did and still do but she hoped that it will be more than that. Although for now, it was only just a fleeting dream. While everything was great and all, there was one problem regarding her choice of joining the tennis club.

"Enjoying your time?" a voice spoke up and Hanayo knew fully well whose voice it belonged to. Slowly turning around, she saw none other than Sena Izumi standing behind her as he looked down on her with that sly and equally evil smile of his. Behold, the one that she just referred as the problem.

"No!" she shrieked as she tried running away only to get locked in placed when Izumi wrapped both of his arms around the female's neck, preventing her from escaping as he knelt behind her.

"Well, you sure had the guts to make a move on Yuu-kun huh? How bold, you bad girl~" he teased but she could sense the malice in his words, scaring the brunette even more as she struggled to escape. The distance between them was almost to none as Hanayo was getting uncomfortable by the close contact between them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I swear that I didn't do anything!" tears formed at the corner of her eyes as she tried to pry the senior's arms away but to no avail.

"Haa~? If you really didn't do anything, then why apologized? Unless, you lied~" he said, close to her ear. She swore that her ears were going red by now. She never experienced close contact with an opposite sex but now she did, she founds it terrifying especially when the first person she ever had with was this crazy, addicted Makoto-lover. Not only was he crazy, but he was a bully, a sadist, a tease and everything bad that could be related to him and Hanayo doesn't want to be a part of this man's circle.

"I'm really telling the truth! I was just trying to think of what we should talk, that's all!"

"Oh? So you did try to make a move?! You really are a naughty girl huh~? This calls for punishment~" the malice sounded even more sinister when he finally let go of her neck, freeing the brunette from the male's hold. Turning around she wondered what he was trying to do to her although she fully knew well what he was going to do. He pinched both her cheeks before stretching it in a playful manner.

"Ow, ow, ow! Sena-senpai, it hurts!" she held Izumi's wrists as she tried to make him let her go.

"This is what you get for messing with Yuu-kun when I'm not around! Remember, Yuu-kun is mine~! Accept it~" Izumi grinned as he pinched Hanayo's cheek harder. This wasn't really the first time she was bullied by the same person with the same method. Whenever Izumi saw her, be it in the hallway or at the cafeteria, he would always played with her cheeks as if it was a toy. It was hard to stop him and she really hoped that someone ended it soon.

WHAM!

Izumi immediately let go of her cheeks as he fell sideways, revealing the one who whacked the tennis racket on his head.

"This is sexual harassment, Izu-chan! How dare you do that to Hanayo-chan!" Nozomi stood proudly behind the now fainted Izumi as she glared at the male. Nozomi quickly knelt beside Hanayo and comfort the brunette.

"Hanayo-chan, are you okay? Does your cheeks hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?" the purple-haired female checked her face, her hands and everything to make sure that she didn't suffer any visible marks or injury from the male aside from her cheeks that looked like a blush by now. In any case, Hanayo was glad to see Nozomi here. She had wondered where she went because she was never late when it comes to club activities.

"Ehehe, thank you, Nozomi-chan. But..." she dragged on as she peered at the male, who was completely knocked unconscious while Nozomi followed her gaze as she stared at the male with no guilt. "Shouldn't we be more worried about him...?"

* * *

Letting out a long sigh, Nazuna glanced from Izumi to Nozomi again and again. He had received news that Izumi was bullying Hanayo while they were all alone in the tennis court. As if it wasn't enough of a headache, Nozomi came into picture and made everything even more tense. He could literally saw how the tennis court had became a battlefield right now.

Right now, Izumi and Nozomi were having a match to see whose actions were more justified than the other. Of course, from a bystander's perspective, everyone would agree with Nozomi because she was saving the brunette from the the assaulting male. But that doesn't meant that knocking Izumi until he was unconscious was acceptable as well. The match was so intense that Nazuna couldn't bare to watch anymore but at the same time, he had to make sure that it didn't go out of hands.

"You okay, Hanayo? Does it still hurts?" Nazuna looked over at the main victim in the beginning of the whole accident and he saw Tori petting the brunette's head. Although both of them weren't in the same class, they were close due to a friendly match between them during their club practice. Hanayo shook her head as the pink-haired male continued to console the female.

"Hey, Nito-senpai..." Makoto spoke up, getting the blond's attention as he pointed out to the two people who were getting more intense with their match. "Don't you think it's about time they stopped?"

Looking over at the tennis court that both Izumi and Nozomi were using, tennis balls were bouncing everywhere as they hit every single one that came and flew towards them before countering it back towards the other person.

"At this rate, even the tennis court is going to suffer because of those two..." Makoto mumbled but it was loud enough for Nazuna to hear. Unable to control his patience anymore, she snapped at the two people fighting at the tennis court.

"ARGHHHH! THAT'S IT! STOP FIGHTING ALREADY!"

* * *

~Extra~

After settling down, everyone sat down and enjoyed the sandwiches that Hanayo made for everyone. Although the atmosphere was tense before and everyone was on the edge, now everyone was openly joking with one another.

Hanayo had made every single sandwiches based on everyone's preference. For Tori, she had made sandwiched with no vegetables. Never had she seen him scarfed down the sandwiches with a pleasant face. The same goes to Izumi where Hanayo made his sandwiches all balanced and healthy. This caused the male to began teasing her again but Nozomi was there to prevent any unnecessary physical contact he was attempting to do.

Everything was good and all, that was until Izumi and Nozomi took the last sandwich at the same time, causing both of them holding the corners of the sandwich as they realized what just happened. Staring at one another, they began to turn hostile against each other.

"Don't you think you've had enough, Izu-chan?"

"Haa~? Don't be ridiculous. This one was mine the moment I saw it."

"Oho~? What proof do you have to say that it was yours?"

"Want to see how?"

"Bring it on~"

Not long after that, the two began their previous match, even deadlier and extreme than before over a ridiculous reason on who would get the last sandwich.

"I'm done with these two..." Nazuna muttered.

* * *

 **And we're done~! I felt bad for doing this to Hanayo-chan! (** **ﾟ** **д** **ﾟ** **) But still, who could resisted Hanayo's charm point? Her soft cheeks are not even safe when Izumi is around. Speaking of Izumi, I hate him but I loved him at the same time. Ahahahahahaha~! So, yeah. I would like to share a note here that both Theater Club and Tennis Club are the only clubs that has two members of μ's in it together. The other girls are all alone in certain clubs such as Maki being the sole female in the Light Music Club.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for reading this chapter! I appreciate it if you would kindly leave a review or a comment down below so I could read on your opinions~! I'll see you next time~! (/^▽^)/**


	10. Archery Club

**Yay! Moving on to my fave moments for 'Club Activity' theme~! If you want to know why, then you better read it now~! I mean it, READ IT! Hahahahaha~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 10: Archery Club

Although she was the only female in the Archery club, it was no doubt that she was one of the best members in the club. Being raised in a traditional family, Sonoda Umi had practiced a lot to master her talents and skills in order to achieve her parents' expectations. In the Archery Club, she was almost on par to Keito's level which is something that everyone would be amazed even the bespectacled male himself.

Today's practice however, showed otherwise for the blue-haired female.

As she released the arrow on the bow string and let it flew across the field, everyone expected that it would hit the center of the target only to be surprised to see that the arrow landed farther away from it instead. It was clearly shown in everyone's face that they weren't expecting such poor performance from her. They wouldn't have doubted her skill if she only made the mistake on the first try but when she had done so many mistakes, it was quite worrisome.

As much as they wanted to ask, it was customary to not engaged in talking while they were practicing. So they decided to wait until the captain of the Archery Club, which is Hasumi Keito himself would announced a break. After Keito's turn to shoot ended, he decided to stop the practice at that moment.

"Let's take a short brake here." he said, surprising the other members. Without giving any explanation why or why he even needed to do so when everyone had the same question regarding a certain female, he looked at Umi's direction with his usual sharp look.

"Sonoda, may I ask what is on your mind? I was not expecting such poor performance, especially when it comes from you." he asked as he crossed his arms. Umi's gaze went to the floor as she kept quiet for a long time.

"It's nothing, Hasumi-senpai. It's just...something personal." she answered but not fully exposing what was the problem. Tsukasa and Yuzuru looked at each other in a knowing manner. They all knew she was hiding something and they didn't liked that. Letting out a sigh, Keito adjusted his glasses.

"It would be an insult to me if you did it on purpose because I knew fully well that you would never do such thing and especially when I have acknowledged your skills that rivals mine." he said. It was an honour to hear such words coming from someone she had looked up but at the same time, knowing that her actions had upset the bespectacled male, she was a bit disappointed with herself.

Without realizing what was happening around her, Keito gave both Tsukasa and Yuzuru a signal with his eyes to try and pried the answer that Umi was keeping to herself.

"Sonoda-senpai," a voice spoke up. Turning to the side, she was faced with Tsukasa who had a worried expression on his face. "If there's anything that we could do, please, tell us. You've never tried to be open with us so I'm a bit sad that you don't trust us with your problems."

Although she knew the young male meant well, she was a bit unsure whether she should be sharing her problems with the other members. Like she had said, it was a personal problem. She appreciated the concerns they had for her but she didn't want to make a big fuss out of it. Her thought were interrupted when Yuzuru spoke up.

"I do recalled the time where Kousaka-sama was saying that you seemed a bit tensed lately, as if you were on your guard all the time. If I'm correct, she said that you were hiding from a certain someone?" Umi mentally slapped herself. Of all the things that Honoka would like talk about, why must it be about her? She made a mental note to have a 'talk' with Honoka if she bumped into her.

"I assure you. It's nothing big. I'm sure I can handle it myself." she said with a reassuring smile. However, Keito knew it wasn't a genuine smile she always had. Not only does he have sharp ears but he also had sharp eyes which was why he could saw through that fake smile she had on.

"This is about Hakaze Kaoru isn't it?" he asked and immediately, Umi tensed. The bespectacled male knew he had hit a jackpot based on the female's reaction. It didn't go unnoticed by the others too. After an awkward silence filling up the room, Umi finally let out a defeated sigh and slumped her shoulders. She should have known that it was futile to hide something from their captain.

"Yes, yes it is..." she answered truthfully. Letting out a sigh, everyone was glad that she was finally telling them.

"So, what has this man done to you?" Tsukasa asked as he peered closer to her face, causing the blue-haired female to jerk away from the young male. Distancing herself a bit from the red-haired male, she wondered at the same time on how to explain to the others.

Since they were talking about Hakaze Kaoru, almost everyone knew that they were thinking about the same man who wouldn't resisted hitting and flirting with females as soon as he spotted them. That same applied to Anzu and all members of μ's. Although he had failed asking each of them out, he seemed insistent in getting along with all of them though he had stopped asking them out for a date. HOWEVER, his approaches were more directed to her.

She could still remember the time where he would appeared out of nowhere and asked her if she had some free time to spend with him. There were times when she just took one step outside the library, he stood there waiting for her. Even when she was about to go back to her class, she would bumped into him as she turned around the corner. It was...scary.

"Well, this is Hakaze we're talking about. That man could never controlled himself as soon as he saw a female." Keito let out a sigh as he took a seat beside Yuzuru as they talked about the problem Umi was facing.

"But why me? Honoka, Kotori, basically everyone said that they haven't been bothered by Hakaze-senpai lately. I don't see how he managed to find me all the time and not the others..." she muttered and let out a sigh. Talking about the man alone was enough to give her a headache. To find a solution for her problem was clearly impossible right now.

"Maybe it's just coincidence? Hakaze-sama doesn't looked like the type to stay in one place for a long period of time. So maybe, both of you just ended up crossing path without realizing it." Yuzuru spoke up.

She did thought of that before. She once thought that maybe it's just a coincidence that they always ended up meeting each other although the flirt insisted that 'fate' wanted them to meet up. Frowning, she began to think that it was not a mere coincidence anymore. They have bumped into each other to the point that she lost count of it.

Tsukasa noticed the change on Umi's face and he too, frowned.

"This man...is clearly giving you troubles isn't he, Sonoda-senpai?" the look on Tsukasa's face and the tone he was using right now clearly showed how unamused he was right now. That is, until he suddenly smiled back at her and casually asked her, "Shall I exterminate him for you?"

"No!" Umi let out a sigh as she placed her palm on her face. She knew that the red-haired male was a bit attached to her but that was too much. "You don't need to go to such length, Tsukasa-kun..."

"But Sonoda-senpai..." he stopped talking when Keito interrupted.

"Suou, that's enough. There's no need for us to interfere between both of them. This is her problem and she will have to deal with it by herself." he said as he turned his gaze to the blue-haired female.

"Sonoda, remember this. Archery is not only about focus. The moment you hold the bow, you must always cast aside your problems and clear your mind. In your case, you've let your worries and problems took control of your mind and thus, why you couldn't performed well. Never let those negative thoughts overtake your mind because when you do, they will effect everything that you do." he crossed his arms as he gave an advice to the female sitting on the floor. She looked at him with admiration as she realized those were the same words her father had once told her when she was very young.

"Understand?" he asked, causing the blue-haired female to snap out of her thoughts and nodded her head.

"Yes, I understand. I apologized for showing such weakness during the practice." Umi bowed her head down and Keito nodded his head in approval, not that she could saw him at the moment. Raising her head up, she cast her gaze back down on the floor.

"Maybe I was just too frustrated. I wanted to get rid of this feeling but I don't know how. I guess that's why I couldn't think properly." she gave a clumsy smile.

"How to get rid of your frustration, is it?" Yuzuru mumbled. Tsukasa's concerned face suddenly changed into a surprised but delighted face when he heard the blue-haired male mumbling to himself.

"Oh! I have a brilliant idea. I think I can help you in getting rid of that frustration, Sonoda-senpai." he spoke up, causing everyone in the room to look at him. The red-haired male went over to the field and walked over to one of the shooting target. Whatever he was doing to it was a question in everyone's mind. Once he had done something with the shooting target, he went back to join the others again.

"Alright then. Sonoda-senpai, if you would please take your place to begin your shooting practice." he said. Umi, confused by the sudden suggestion, was suddenly pulled up by the arm by Tsukasa as he dragged her to the place where her shooting target was.

"Now, Sonoda-senpai. Can you see what's in the middle of that target?" the red-haired male stood beside the female as he pointed at the shooting target farther away from them.

"It's... Its' a... What exactly did you put there?" she could see that there was something at the middle of it. It was big enough to fit around the center of the shooting target.

"That thing in the middle is actually...a picture of Hakaze Kaoru~" he answered with a smile, surprising everyone in the room including the usual stern-faced captain although he was more of flinching at the sudden statement.

"W-W-W-What were you thinking in doing such thing? Besides, how did you even had a picture of him?!" Umi was flustered and nervous as she exchanged look between the shooting target and the red-haired male but Tsukasa just shrugged his shoulder, refusing to answer that question.

"I believed that I've never taught anyone to do such a thing with our shooting targets..." Keito warned but Tsukasa looked over at the bespectacled male with his usual smile.

"But isn't this a great opportunity? Not only it can helped Sonoda-senpai vented out her frustration but it also to help her getting her focus back." he explained. Keito pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose as he glared at the youngest member.

"Ridiculous. Although I understand what you are trying to say but to actually used one of our shooting targets as a-"

"I'm afraid she's already into it..." Yuzuru said as he pointed at the blue-haired female as she continuously shot her arrows at the target. Not only that, the arrows she have shot were all on the same spot of the shooting target and so far, even breaking the previous arrow she have shot as she replaced it with the next arrow she shot.

"Such skill and passion. _Marvelous_ ~!" Tsukasa looked at the blue-haired female in admiration.

"Ridiculous..." Keito grumbled as he crossed his arms.

* * *

It took her almost 10 minutes to stop shooting. Looking over to the shooting target, it was completely full of arrows, all gathered in the center.

"I'm impressed, Sonoda-sama." Yuzuru came forward as he handed out her towel. Thanking the male, she took it and wiped her sweats away. Keito, who had been observing silently somehow was impressed as well.

"I guess I should not underestimate people's drive..." he mumbled before he faced the other to declare the end of their activity. "Everyone, good work today. Mostly to you, Sonoda. I hoped from now on, you will be able to do your practice properly without the guidance of...that thing."

Laughing at the captain's choice of word, Keito glared at the trio which completely shuts them all up but their smile still remained.

"I'll go and bring back the arrows." Umi said as she went over the fields to gather back all the arrows. Yuzuru and Tsukasa went to help her as well as they all began taking out all the arrows. When Umi was taking out all of the arrows from her shooting target, she noted that most of the arrows she used were broken.

"I guess I kind of overdid it..." she mumbled.

"No, I think it's fine." Tsukasa spoke up from beside the female as he helped pulled out the arrows. Not soon after that Yuzuru joined them.

"But I'm quite surprised. To think you managed to shoot on the same spot again and again." Yuzuru spoke up and looked at the target.

"Hmm?"

Noticing that Yuzuru had stopped pulling out the arrows, Umi looked at the blue-haired male in concern. Not only did he stopped helping but his surprised face caused her to be even more worried.

"What's wrong Fushimi-san?" she asked.

"Um, Sonoda-sama, Tsukasa-sama. Maybe it's just me but, the spot where Sonoda-sama shoots at in this picture is..." he didn't have to finish the sentence when Umi and Tsukasa decided to look at it themselves. The spot where Umi had non-stop shooting at was not at the arms, not at the legs and most certainly not at the head but it was...at Kaoru's heart.

' _Heart_?' she thought as she frown.

"H-Huh, that's something." Tsukasa was surprised as well. "While I may have heard in the archery practice that a true shot is not just one that hits the center of a target, but one where it exist in the target before its release, I wasn't expecting to see such example right in front of my eyes..."

' _Exist in the target before it's release?_ ' she paled.

"Does that mean, her arrows were meant to be aimed at Hakaze-sama's heart the whole time?" Yuzuru asked the red-haired male. Yuzuru's sentence had automatically switched on a certain button of her imaginary where she would rather not remembered.

' _Love Arrow, Shoot~!_ ' The image of her holding out a bow and an arrow to the audience as she spoke those line while she shot all of them at the heart had made the blue-haired female completely paled and that was all it took for her to faint as she fell backwards on the field.

"Goodness! Sonoda-sama fainted!"

"Sonoda-sempai! Wake up! What happened to you?!"

Both males were panicking as they weren't sure on what to do as they saw the female completely lifeless on the ground. Hearing all the commotion at the field caused the captain of the club to look over at the trio. Letting out a sigh, he knew that something went wrong along the way.

"What is it this time?" he grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

* * *

 **Hahahahahahaha~! I can never overlooked Umi's call-and response signature move! o(≧∇≦o) Poor Umi, that image and line are probably her worst trauma ever. So, what do you think? I hoped you liked it~! I'm in the progress of making the next chapter as well as I typed this. Hopefully I can updated it as soon as I can. I hoped you'll wait for it~! Don't forget to leave a comment and a review down below~! See you in the next chapter~!**


	11. Track & Field Club

**It's time for the Track & Field Club to make appearance! I've kept these guys for too long! It's finally time for them to make debut. Plus, another one of my top OTP is in here~! (fangirling at the corner of the room)**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 11: Track & Field Club

Club activity. The moment Rin heard those words, her heart skipped a beat. Not only she was excited for it but the fact that she would be able to spend her time doing outdoor activity was enough to get her pumped. Packing her stuff in haste, a young male from her class approached her.

"Rin-chan~!" the male spoke up and Rin turned around, smiling at the owner of the voice.

"Mitsuru-kun! Hehehe, I'm looking forward for today's practice~!" she grinned and the brunette male grinned as well.

"Yep! I can't wait to race with you again! Oh, and Ado-chan-senpai too!" he said as Rin nodded her head in approval. Both of them walked out of their classroom as they went to meet up the rest of the members from the Track & Field Club. Arriving at the track ground, both of them looked around to find their seniors but surprisingly, no one was even there. Usually, by the time they arrived, Adonis would have done warming up while their president, Narukami Arashi would stayed under a shade from the scorching sun, threatening to burn his skin.

"Huh? Where's Adonis-senpai and Arashi-chan?" Rin looked around when she noticed the weather was turning darker and darker.

"Ah..." both of them suddenly realized why they didn't found the seniors. It was raining. As few droplets made contact with their skin, both Rin and Mitsuru went to a nearby building to avoid getting wet by the rain. They looked at the track field and they could see from light rain turned into a storm.

"Wow, I didn't see that coming..." Mitsuru mumbled as he looked on the field track. Looking at each other, they knew it was impossible to go home in a weather like this. Sure, they can try to run back home as fast as they can but, better safe than sorry.

"Aww, now what should we do? I know one thing for sure that the club activities can't continue in a weather like this-nyaa..." Rin asked, slightly disappointed with the sudden change of event. While both of them were in their own train of thoughts, they didn't noticed someone approaching from behind.

"Tenma, Hoshizora. What are you doing here?" a voice spoke up, causing the two youngsters to turn around and faced one of the seniors they knew so well.

"Adonis-senpai!" Rin grinned as she went and stood closer to the purple-haired male. Adonis nodded his head as Rin and Mitsuru greeted the male.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" the senior asked and both of them told him that they were searching for him and Arashi at the field but they couldn't found them.

"I see, you were waiting for me and Narukami did you? Unfortunately, as you may see, it's raining outside. It's natural that you won't find us out there." Adonis crossed his arms as both Rin and Mitsuru nodded their heads in understanding. However, there was one thing that bothered both of them about the purple-haired male in front of them.

"But Ado-chan-senpai, why are you wearing your P.E clothes? I thought club activity was canceled."

Adonis looked at himself before he smiled.

"Well, it's true that we can't do our club activities outside. But it won't be a problem if we do it inside the gym wouldn't it?" as soon as those words left his mouth, Rin and Mitsuru's eyes twinkled in excitement at what their senior was trying to say.

"Wait! We get to used the gym?! Awesome-nya~!" Rin squealed in delight as she jumped around, causing the purple-haired male to blush at her actions. Mitsuru just laughed at the hyper female before all of them went together towards the gym.

As they opened the door to the gym, both Rin and Mitsuru could see Arashi sitting on one of the bleachers at the side of the court as he waved at them excitedly. Although they had expected their president to arrive before them, what they weren't expecting was the fact that they were sharing the gym with the Basketball Club.

Looking over at the back of the gym, the members of the basketball club were doing their warm up session with their captain, Morisawa Chiaki as he shouted out some instructions and motivated them to do better before the game started. Upon noticing a new arrival, the captain stopped their session to welcome the newcomers.

"Oh! Looks like we have more people coming in! And one of my fave junior is here too~! Come here, Hoshizora~!" he bear hugged the young female as he lifted her up from the ground. Girls would usually found his clingy actions as annoying or too much but Rin was otherwise. She knew that the senior trusted her and was amazed by her love in sports, thus, earning his affection. In return, she trusted the senior as well.

"Ah! No fair Chi-chan-senpai~! I want to hug Rinny as well!" Subaru pouted as he looked at the two in front of him. Mao let out a sigh as his friend was not helping making the situation better.

"More importantly, captain, don't you think you should stop doing that? Her body is going to snap if you keep on hugging her like that..." Mao said.

Seeing the captain wasn't listening to what Mao was saying and continued to hug her even tighter, everyone was worried that he would snapped the female into two. Especially Adonis since he was very protective of the young female but he wasn't sure of what to do. Rin didn't looked like she was bothered by the hug therefore, he didn't interfere but he did glared at the captain of the basketball club, not that he actually noticed.

"Ahahaha~! Alright, alright! I'm just so happy to see you again after a long time!" he finally let go of his hug to the female and set her down. "So, you guys are going to have a match with us right?"

"A match?" confused, both Rin and Mitsuru looked over at Adonis for explanation. Not soon after that, he told them what happened during their absence. Originally, the basketball club arrived at the gym first and wanted to have a little practice on their skills but since they didn't have enough members to compete each other, they decided to call the Track & Field Club to join them. Since most outdoor clubs had to cancel their club activities, they figured why not asked one of the clubs to join them. Thus, asking Adonis to join them.

"Oh~! So, basically, we're fighting against you guys?" Mitsuru asked and Chiaki nodded his head enthusiastically.

"But...we have 3 members only." Rin stated. True enough, since the Basketball Club have 4 members including their captain but for the Track & Field Club, there's only 3 active members. Arashi never wished to get himself all worked out. Plus, basketball was not his type of sport. Too rough for him, he once said but he did mentioned that he enjoyed watching them before.

"Hmm, that's a problem. Maybe we should chose one of us to withdraw..." Mao suggested to his teammates. Midori's eyes lit up as his senior's suggestion.

"Then, can I-" as he was about to say something, Chiaki cut him off.

"Nope! There's no need for anyone to withdraw because I'm not the one who should be playing but you guys are!" he pointed to all of his club members. Groaning, Midori suddenly felt weak. As the members of the basketball club were talking among themselves, the members of the Track & Field Club did their part as well.

"Ehehe~! I'm so excited-nyaa~!" Rin hopped around and Mitsuru nodded his head in approval. While the two were engaging on a conversation on how to win the match, Adonis remained quiet as he stared at the young female. Noticing his silence and his stare, Rin looked at the purple-haired male in question.

"Adonis-senpai? What's wrong?" she asked. Looking away, he wasn't sure how to say it but decided it was best to ask rather than stayed silent.

"Hoshizora, are you sure you want to play?" he asked the young female, causing her to tilt her head in a questioning manner. Seeing that she didn't understood, Adonis thought of how to say it properly.

"I'm just worried. I know you're strong but basketball are tough. I don't mean the sport but by the ball itself. If you were to get hit by it, I'm just worried that you'll get an injury..." he said and Rin pouted. She should have known that Adonis still had that overprotective attitude around her. Not that she wasn't being grateful to have someone like that but there were times where she didn't need someone to help her out. She can do whatever she wanted and no one can stopped it.

"Adonis-senpai, you're getting worried over nothing. Besides, I've played this sport long time ago~!" she suddenly placed both her hands on her hips as her face turned serious and stared at the purple-haired male.

"Besides, didn't you promised me before? That you don't need to worry yourself over me?" her face changed into a hurtful expression. Panicking, Adonis nodded his head and Rin smiled once again before she grinned at the purple-haired male.

"Then, instead of worrying, trust me. Okay?" she asked and smiled once more, causing the purple-haired male to blush and looked away. Mitsuru saw this and grinned as he knew that Adonis was a bit weak when he saw Rin's smile.

"Alright! You guys ready over there?" Chiaki called out to the members of the track & field club as his members have took their positions in the court. Nodding their head at each other, they took their positions as well. Both Midori and Adonis took their position near the middle while Chiaki stood in between them as he looked at both side.

"Don't hold back against us, okay, Occhan, Rinny? You too, daze-daze kid~!" Subaru grinned as wide as he could.

"Don't call me 'daze-daze'~!" Mitsuru retorted but still had a smile on his face.

"Let's just play how we usually do." Mao said as he glanced at Subaru and Midori. He knew that it doesn't really matter if they went all in or not because he knew that both his club members and the Track & Field Club members are physically strong, even for a female like Rin.

"That won't do, Isara! Do you think you can play with an attitude like that?! If this is a competition, we're bound to lose! We don't want that! So, go out there and play like your life is on the line~! I trust you guys~!" Chiaki laughed out loud after that causing the violet-haired male and Midori to let out a sigh at their captain's enthusiasm. It was too much for him and Midori to handle so they just kept silent.

"I just want this to end fast..." Midori mumbled as he was worried that his captain would overheard him.

"You guys know the rules right? Whoever scores the most will be the winner! Now! Get in your positions!" Chiaki dribbled the basketball to get their attention before beginning the game.

"Good luck you guys~! Make me proud~!" Arashi cheered from the bleachers near his club members' side. Smiling at the support, all three members of the Track & Field club readied themselves as all of them waited for the signal.

The lightning that suddenly flashed outside created a suspense atmosphere as they waited. When Chiaki finally blew the whistle, the match between the members from the Basketball Club and the Track & Field Club began.

* * *

The game was a tight one. Chiaki was impressed to see both sides catching up to each other. He noted that Tenma was the fastest among the Track & Field club when he dribbled the basketball away from his opponents before passing it to Rin. As for Rin, she had good reflexes as she managed to slip away from Mao who Chiaki knew very well, has a good defense. Not long after that, Rin once again, went through his defense, completely surprising the violet-haired male.

"Damn it..." Mao tried to catch up to her and thankfully he managed to get close to her when suddenly she passed the ball towards the purple-haired male.

"Adonis-senpai!" and he caught the ball before he went and dashed towards their opponent's goal. Subaru tried to block his way but Adonis jumped and slammed the basketball into their goal, followed by the sound of a whistle.

"And with that, the Track & Field Club gained 1 point! Looks like we're back to a tie!" Chiaki announced.

"Yay! We did it-nyaa~!" Rin hopped around as she hugged Mitsuru and Adonis when she jumped on them, causing the brunette male to laugh while the purple-haired male blushed and tensed up by the sudden physical contact.

"Yes~! That's my boys and girl~! You guys are awesome~!" Arashi cheered even more as he danced with pom poms in both of his hands.

"Okama-san is so happy that he started dancing..." Subaru wiped away the sweats that formed at his forehead. Mao let out a sigh as he gulped down his drink, fatigue slowly overtook his body.

"I wonder where he even got those things...?" Midori mumbled when he saw the pom poms in Arashi's hands. Suddenly the sound of a whistle caught their attention back to Chiaki as he spun the basketball on his finger. As he motioned all of them to come closer, they all gathered around the captain of the Basketball Club.

"Alright guys! Good work out there~! Hahaha, although it was a tie, I'm glad to see that you guys are so into it! Especially you, Takamine! You were so into it that I feel so proud to see you in action!" he gave a hard pat at the tall male's back while Midori groaned from the pain although he was actually pleased to hear a compliment.

"As for you guys," Chiaki looked over at the members from the Track & Field Club, he gave them a thumbs up. "You guys were amazing too, as expected from the Track & Field Club! Of course, Hoshizora, you still amazed me as you did to me! Never stopped doing what you want to do, alright~?"

Chiaki held out his fist to her and Rin bumped his fist with her gently as she grinned at the male. After congratulating everyone and shaking hands, it was time to go home. Arashi, who had left his seat at the bleachers, came forward and hugged the two youngest members as tightly as he could.

"You guys were brilliant out there! I couldn't help but feel impressed by your performance." he said and let go of them.

"But Rin-chan, just now when you almost got hit by that ball, I was so scared you know? I don't want your pretty little face to get an injury..." Arashi pushed away the bangs in front of her forehead as he checked for any scratches from the accident that took place during their match.

Apparently, Midori was passing the basketball too fast that he failed to see Rin right in front of him. It was thanks to Rin's good reflexes, she managed to dodge the ball from hitting fully on her face but rather just a hair's breadth away from the side of her face. Laughing nervously at the memory, she shook her head and told him not to worry about it. Arashi doubted that she was fine but decided that it was best if he didn't pried too much.

As everyone packed their stuff, Rin sat down at one of the bleachers before wiping her sweats away with her towel. Noticing someone sat beside her, she looked to her side and saw Adonis staring at her once again.

"What?" she asked, a bit concerned since Arashi had mentioned the small accident previously. She did said earlier to him not to get too worried but what happened before almost caused an injury to her and she knew he wouldn't liked it.

"When you said that I should trust you, I did. I really did. But," he hesitantly reached out to the side of her bangs and revealed a small scratch from the previous small accident. "I really don't want to see anyone to get hurt. Be it small or big, I still want to protect the people I care."

Taken aback by his statement, Rin realized that she couldn't changed that attitude of his. Instead of telling him to stop, it's better to just let him be. It wouldn't be Adonis at all to ignore the people he wanted to protect. Including her.

"Thank you, Adonis-senpai." she smiled at the purple-haired male before he nodded his head.

"Don't tell Arashi-chan about this. Okay?" she pointed at her injury, grinning. Her grin caused the purple-haired male to blush and nodded his head, not even uttering a word as both of them packed their stuff.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere far away from the two, Subaru was grinning at the two people sitting at the bleachers.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Sari~?" Subaru nudged Mao's rib as he motioned towards Adonis and Rin. Mao who was drinking from his bottle looked over at the duo and saw nothing but just a normal conversation going on between them.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Aww, come one, Sari~! Didn't you just saw how Occhan was grazing his fingers at Rinny's hair?"

"So...?" Mao raised one of his eyebrows as he looked at his friend in a questioning manner. Subaru let out a huff before he whispered at the violet-haired male.

"Occhan is being romantic to Rinny~! Occhan never acted that way to any girls! It's almost not like him!" Subaru said, almost excitedly at the news.

"I'm sure it's just him being that overprotective side again. It's better if you mind your own business, Subaru. And hurry up before I leave you here..." not wanting to hear anymore nonsense from his friend, he got up and left, leaving his orange-haired friend.

"Maybe I'll ask Occhan tomorrow~!" Subaru stated, ignoring what his friend just warned.

"Which part of 'mind your own business' don't you get...?"

* * *

 **And we're done~! I'm pretty sure some people weren't expecting the Basketball Club huh? I decided to put them here because both of these clubs are sports related. Thus, it's fun to see all of them to interact.** **ー( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ**

 **Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter! Leave a comment or a review so that I can read all of it to push me to do another one as soon as possible! Thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter~!** **°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	12. Tea Club

**Ah, the sweet fragrance of tea. I really wondered what this club do though. Sadly, I'm not informed about this club so much but all I know is, they served tea. Really? Anyway, enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 12: Tea Club

If there's one thing that Eli knew about the clubs in Yumenosaki, it's that the Tea Club were different than the others. Not to be mistaken with Japanese Tea Ceremony club, but this Tea Club she was talking about practiced using various tea from other countries as they learned how to brew it properly and even served it. Basically, they're doing nothing but brewed the tea, drank it and just do whatever they want as time passed by.

Letting out a sigh, she wondered why did she even joined this particular club in the first place. She could have joined with Nozomi in the Tennis Club but the fight between Nozomi and Izumi would be a headache to her. There's also the Theater Club where both Honoka and Nico joined. Not that she wanted to brag but she was not a bad actress herself but then, there's Hibiki and Nico in it. Both of them were good actor and actress as well and Eli knew that the petite female doesn't like anyone else to steal her spotlight so she decided it's best to stay away from it. Even the Handicraft Club was better than her current one. Plus, she likes to make accessory but when it comes to sewing, she's not as expert as Kotori or Shu.

Long story short, there were many other clubs that she could have joined. Even so, she chose this Tea Club instead of the others. Walking down the hallway, she finally made it outside and went towards the Garden Terrace. Unlike other clubs, the Tea Club mostly held their meeting at the Garden Terrace due to its location near the kitchen. She noticed Hajime reading a book at their usual table and made her way towards the young male.

"Good afternoon, Hajime-kun." Eli greeted and the young male looked up in surprised but calmed down afterward when he realized that it was someone he knew.

"Good afternoon, Eli-senpai~" he greeted back and Eli placed her bag across of Hajime's seat. She looked around but she couldn't find the other two members of the Tea Club.

"Where are the others?" she asked Hajime as he put away his book.

"Oh, they're not here yet, I think. When I arrived, I was the only one here." he answered and stood up, going towards the kitchen but Eli stopped him. Hajime had always been the one to prepare the tea for their club members and it's high time for her to take over the job for once in while.

"You go ahead and continue reading your book. I'll take care of the rest, okay?"

"A-Are you sure?" the young male asked, hesitating. Eli nodded her head, confirming her statement and Hajime smiled at her before nodding his head and thanked her as he sat back at his seat. As Eli made her way to the kitchen, she noted that no one was inside which she was thankful for. No one could bothered her while she prepared the tea.

She heated the water and went to find the teacups. While she prepared everything, she wondered where the other two members were. She knew Ritsu should have been here long ago. He would always slept at the garden terrace as soon as the last lesson ended. So, it was rare to see him somewhere else rather than their meeting spot. As for Eichi, well, it was normal for him to go and checked on the Student Council first before coming over.

' _Speak of the devil_ ', she thought when she heard footsteps coming over.

"Good afternoon, Eli-san." Eichi greeted. He smiled as he made his way over and looked at what she was doing.

"Good afternoon, Eichi-kun. Let me guess, pile of works to do yet again?" she asked. Chuckling, Eichi nodded. Aside from Keito, Eli was one of the people who could saw straight through his smile when he hid something. It was given that he had a tired look in his eyes that most people failed to see.

"You know me well. Are you making the tea right now?" he asked and Eli nodded her head.

"Can I ask for a request then? I would loved to have a cup of Chamomile tea right now." the blond male looked at her as he asked his request.

Blinking her eyes twice, she wondered why.

* * *

"So, you had trouble in sleeping lately?" Eli asked as she placed the last teacup on the table for Ritsu. Apparently, by the time she went outside the kitchen, he had arrived, slumping on his seat.

"Yes, and it has been bothering me lately how I can't even rest fully enough. Keito had reminded me before to sleep early since then. But it was hard." the blond male explained as he took a sip of the Chamomile tea.

"That's cause you've always do your student council work all the time..." Ritsu mumbled as he captured the attention of everyone at the tea table. Opening one of his eyes, he looked up and stared at the president of the council student. "Why not set aside the work for one day and relaxed? Besides..."

Ritsu sat properly before pointing his finger at the papers on the tea table in front of Eichi.

"Those papers is making the atmosphere here tense..."

Looking over at the papers that Eichi brought out was indeed, stressing. There was a lot of paperwork he needed to settle and everyone knew that Eichi doesn't like to drag his work behind him.

"Hmm, is it? Well, I guess it's because you've never seen me with these amount of workload before." Eichi took another sip from his tea before setting it down on his lap. "But yes, you do have a point there. I'm pretty sure that the reason why I've been having sleep trouble was because of these."

Although he doesn't showed it, everyone knew he was tired. Eli's thoughts wandered back to the moment where Keito wanted to have a talk with her. Stating that he was worried about the blond male, he asked for Eli's assistance to watch over him while he was not there by his side.

Letting out a sigh, she looked at the paperwork on the table. She knew how big the responsible he has to carry because he was the president of the student council. Everyone depended on him.

"You know Eichi-kun, you can always took a one day off from work right? At least get yourself some free time to do something else for once in a while." Eli suggested as she took her seat. Eichi was hesitating as he looked at the papers beside him. She knew that look too well. Smiling, she took one paper and gave a quick look before glancing at him.

"Or you could give some of these paperwork to me? I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Besides, it's not like this is the first time I've done this for you." she said, showing him the paper. She still remembered the time where both Eichi and Keito had asked her personally to lend a hand sometime when the Student Council had too much work. Basically, they trusted her enough to gave some of the work and the results were excellent. After he heard the offer, he smiled and did something unexpected. He petted her head.

"Thank you, Eli-san. If only you were my little sister, I would be so happy to have someone like you to help me around in the house. Plus, maybe I could sleep well knowing you were there to help me." he said, still smiling and Eli was starting to blush but her face quickly replaced with a half-glare as she pushed his hand away from her head, lightly.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Eichi-kun. Just because you're one year older than me doesn't mean you can treat me like a little kid..." she placed the paper back and Eichi just chuckled before sipping his tea again. Hajime who had been silent for a while finally spoke up.

"I know I can't help much but I can help too, President. I-If you don't mind that is." the young male offered. Eichi turned to him and gave him a smile as well before petting his head like he had did to Eli.

"Thank you, Hajime-kun. You're such a kind person. And I told you before right, call me big brother, once in while~"

"O-Oh, yes! Big brother Eichi." the young male did, only to make Eichi petted the boy even more as he complimented him for being a good child and everything. While the two were busy in their own world, Eli and Ritsu looked at them in disbelief.

"Really Eichi-kun? I swear he would say that to almost every single juniors that he is closed to..." Eli let out a sigh as she sipped her tea, letting the warm chamomile tea falling down into her throat. Ritsu scoffed lightly before glancing at Eli as he took a sip of his tea as well.

"At least he would be a great brother figure...unlike my own brother..." he muttered. Eli could feel the negative energy Ritsu was letting out since she knew how much he hated his own brother. Not feeling the need to talk about him, he took another sip before he began to slump in his seat and continued his nap. Letting out a nervous laugh, the blond female looked around her and could see how casual and relaxed the atmosphere was.

Smiling to herself, she found out the reason why she choose to join this club again.

* * *

 **The end~! Pretty sure this is the shortest chapter I've ever done. I think? So, yeah, the ending sucks doesn't it~!? It sounded like a cliffhanger and I did that on purpose! Huhuhuhu~! Anyway, I'm sure all of you understand what Eli was trying to say even if I didn't emphasized what was it. Just imagine yourself in Eli's shoes and you'll understand what she meant.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked it~! Sorry it took so long! Make sure to leave a comment and a review of this chapter~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	13. Handicraft Club

**The last chapter of 'Club Activity' theme~! Whoo~! Starring the Handicraft Club! Yep, it's the end of club activities chapter, dear readers. Huhuhu~! Anyway, enjoy reading~! AND don't forget to read the end notes~! I might be announcing something that you might as well take note of it.**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 13: Handicraft Club

Never had Kotori ever felt the urge to make her way towards the Handicraft Club. It was typical to see Kotori pumped up whenever club activities took place but this time, she was more than pumped up. She was determined. She was going to start making a new costumes for μ's. After talking and discussing with Nico, they agreed to go with the designs they came up together and the grayish-brown haired female couldn't wait any longer to start making them. Humming to herself, she made took out the sketch designs that both her and Nico previously designed.

"Hehehe~! I can't wait to start making this costume~ I bet everyone would looked really good on it~" giggling by herself, she prepared the tools and equipment for the costumes. Thankfully, she had enough to make some part of the costume. Although she knew she couldn't complete the full costume today but at least she had something to start on first.

She was all alone in the club room. Not that no one was going to show up but everyone had something to take care of before coming here. Anzu was called by Akiomi, the Guidance Counselor, to talk about her Producer job. Shu was probably held up in the class due to his cleaning duty today. As for Mika, well, she wasn't sure. He was probably taking a break at the cafeteria or something.

"'Sup..." a familiar voice came into the room and Kotori turned around to see the male with mismatched eyes strolled in as he covered up his mouth from yawning.

"Good afternoon, Mika-kun~" Kotori greeted back with her usual, extra cheery voice. Although people couldn't noticed the difference between Kotori in her usual mood and when she's really happy or excited, Mika could.

"Hmm? Ya looked happy. Somethin' up?" he asked, his Kansai dialect began to surface but she didn't mind. It wasn't a foreign thing to listen to since Nozomi spoke with that same dialect all the time.

"Hehehe~ Actually, I was going to make a new costume for μ's and I just can't wait to see how it'll turn out when I finished it~!" talking to herself as she imagined the complete costume and giggled afterward by herself. Mika sweatdropped at her actions as Kotori was in her own world.

"I-It's that so?" he said. Kotori was still in her daydreaming world even when Mika waved his hand in front of her.

"Oi, wake up~" he continued to wave his hand before snapping his finger in front of her. The snapping worked as it brought the grayish-brown haired female back to reality. Letting out a sigh, Mika scratched the back of his head before he went to his usual seat.

"Ya should really stopped daydreamin' for once in a while, ya know?" he mumbled before taking out his tools. Unlike what Kotori had on her table, Mika's tools were all the basic and common thing to use. Then he took out an incomplete stuffed animal he made yesterday during their club activities.

"Oh? Isn't that the one you made yesterday, Mika-kun?" Kotori asked, intrigued by the half-complete appearance. She could tell it was a lion stuffed animal. Yesterday, she couldn't even predicted what he was trying to make but upon closer look to it, she finally saw what it was.

"Yep, 's not complete yet but I think I can managed today." he answered and continued sewing the stuffed animal. Smiling at the male, Kotori did the same to her own work. She took out a white fabric and began to measure it by referring to each member of μ's' measurement. The sight of the white fabric caught the male's attention as he watched the grayish-brown haired female did her work.

"And what are ya makin'?" he asked and this time, Kotori's excitement got to her as she turned around to look at the male. The twinkle in her eyes showed just how excited she was and Mika somehow regretted asking. He just had to mention what she was doing.

"Ehehe~! Well, you see, I told you that I was going to make a new costume for μ's right?"

"Yeah and what is it are you makin' this time?" he stopped doing whatever he was doing that time and gave his full attention to the grayish-brown haired female.

"Hehehe, it's a bit embarrassing but guess what? I'm making a w-" right before she could finished the word, the door to their club room opened and both Anzu and Shu entered. Upon noticing the new arrival, Kotori completely forgot to continue her sentence back and instead, focused on the other members of Handicraft Club.

"Oh, Anzu-chan, Shu-senpai. Good afternoon~" she greeted them with Mika following after her.

"Good afternoon. Sorry we're late. I just received a lot of work from Kunugi-sensei all of the sudden..." Anzu took a seat at the table in front of Kotori as she put down all the files that she had on the table. Looking over at the files, Kotori was worried about her classmate.

"Looks like you'll be very busy again huh?" Kotori asked and the brunette could only nodded her head in agreement. Anzu let out a sigh as she took one file and took a glance over. From what Kotori could saw, it was a list of every member of a unit in each file.

"You can do that later at your house, little girl. For now, focused on our club activities." Shu suddenly spoke up as the two females looked over to see Shu started sewing with all of his tools on his table. He never liked people wasting their time doing something else other than their club activities. Pouting, Anzu mumbled 'yes, yes' before putting away the file to the side. Laughing nervously, Kotori leaned closer to the brunette before whispering something to her.

"I can help you out with those when we're free. That is if you don't mind." she whispered and Anzu giggled before nodding her head, appreciating the grayish-brown haired female's offer. Without wasting any time and trying not to get scolded again, Anzu took out her own tools and began her own work.

Everyone was indulged in their own work that the only sound could be heard inside the Handicraft Club were the sound of fabric sewn together and sometimes the sewing machine that both Anzu and Shu were using from time to time. Kotori finally finished the last measured fabric for her costume and looked up.

Everyone was too busy to noticed her stare as she looked around. Shu was making a costume for his unit, she presumed. Looking over to the next male, Mika was sewing the eyes for the stuffed animals and Kotori couldn't help but softly giggled at how focused the male with mismatched eyes looked right now. Looking at the last one, she could saw Anzu making a costume as well. She wasn't sure who might it be for because Anzu had always made lots of costumes for some units but she assumed it was for Trickstar.

Sensing that someone was looking at her, Anzu turned around and saw Kotori staring at her.

"What's wrong, Kotori-chan?" the brunette asked, snapping the grayish-brown haired female out of her thought and she laughed nervously.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering who are you making those for?"

"Oh, you mean these? Well, it's for Trickstar of course." Anzu held up one of the complete costume and showed it to Kotori.

"Oh, it looks really nice. Is it for the Sakura Festival coming soon?" Kotori asked and Anzu nodded her head, smiling as she puts away the costume.

"Yeah, it is. By the way, what are you making?" Anzu went towards Kotori's table and looked at all the white fabrics that has been measured in 9 pieces. Smiling at the brunette, she took out a book that both Kotori and Nico had previously used to discuss about their costume.

"It's really embarrassing to show this but, here you go." Kotori handed over her book and gave it to Anzu. When she took it, she was surprised by the first three designs of the costume. Her surprised grew even more obvious when she flipped to the next page until she reached to the last design of the costume.

"Oh! These designs looks lovely!" Anzu exclaimed as it caught the attention of two males in the room.

"Hehehe, right? Nico-chan helped with the extra detail designs and now, I just have to do the rest of it. Of course, I'm leaving the accessories in Nico-chan's hand~" Kotori explained, her smile was getting wider as she spoke about the costume. Anzu was completely amazed by the costume design that she was still staring at the book for a while. She never really had the chance to make a female's costume ever since she became a producer.

"This is amazing. These designs are...beautiful."

Seeing the speechless brunette standing there, Kotori couldn't help but giggled at her friend.

"What are you two talking about over there? I hoped you're not engaging in pointless chatter when you should be doing your own work." Shu looked up to them while his hand continued to sew the costume even when he wasn't looking. As expected of an expert, Kotori thought to herself.

"Oh yeah, ya didn't even answered my question back then. What exactly are ya makin'?" Mika spoke up this time. Kotori recalled back when Mika asked her but they were interrupted when Anzu and Shu entered the club room.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Sorry." Kotori apologized, pressing both of her palms against each other in front of her.

"It's fine. So?" the male with mismatched eyes urged her to continue.

"A wedding dress~" she answered as casually as she always been with a smile and both of the male froze as soon as she said that. Both of the girls continued their conversation without even noticing the two tensed male looking at the grayish-brown haired female with a horrified expression.

"But I'm curious, Kotori-chan. What made both you and Nico-senpai suddenly want to design a wedding dress?"

"Hehehe, well, I wasn't expecting it either. She suddenly talked about June being the month of weddings and that's where it all began."

"Oh, June weddings huh? That's right, a lot of girls kept saying that if you're wedded on June, you will be blessed or something like that? Anyway, good luck~" Anzu handed back the book to the other female and was about to walk back to her table when she bumped into Shu.

"Oh, Itsuki-senpai. I'm sorry, I didn't noticed..." her words slowly died out when she saw the grim look on the senior's face.

"Minami..." he went towards the grayish-brown haired female and placed both of his hand on her shoulders. Feeling a bit panicked, Kotori waited until he spoke up. "How can you go and planned a wedding without telling me?!"

"Eh?"

"How vulgar of you! To actually make a wedding dress for your own wedding?! Who is it?! Who is it?! Who is the man that asked for your hand in marriage?! " he demanded as he jerked the poor female back and forth, again and again until Kotori was feeling dizzy by the action and the situation. Did he mistook her for designing a wedding dress for her own wedding? By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late to clear the misunderstanding at that moment.

"Yer...yer marrying...at such youn' age...?" Mika was already turning lifeless at this point that they could see his soul flying out from his mouth.

"N-No! I-Itsuki-senpai, Mika-kun is-" Kotori tried to change the subject while pointing at the now, lifeless male, not even moving an inch from his seat.

"Forget about that good-for-nothing doll! I ask you once again, Minami, who is it? Such shameless act to ask for your hand when he didn't even asked my permission first! How vulgar!"

Seeing how the chaos won't stopped if no actions took place, Anzu made her way in between Kotori and Shu as she tried to calm the paranoid senior.

"Alright, that's enough! Why do you sound like a father denying his daughter's marriage? You're not even her father to begin with." Anzu managed to break the two apart and was protecting Kotori from Shu's persistent questionings. While Anzu and Shu were engaging in verbal fight, Kotori stood behind the brunette, hiding from the enraged male.

"How did it come to this...? I just want to finish the costumes as soon as possible..." Kotori whined as tears appeared at the corner of her eyes. In the end, Kotori had to do the rest at her home as it took her and Anzu a lot of time to clear up the misunderstanding and snapping Mika back to life.

* * *

 **And we're done~! Wow, how long did I just took to post this chapter up? Hahahaha, really sorry if this chapter somehow sucked. Writer's block came back and consumed me. Yeah, blame it on the writer's block. (;** **O´)o**

 **Anyway, a certain note to announce on this fic's future chapters. After this, I'm going to the next step of bringing out the chosen pairings into view. Yay~! But not romantically yet~! But I will. When? I won't tell~ Also, I might do another 'club activity' theme in the future but not now, or anywhere near yet. I will informed when I want to and when that time comes, YOU, yes, YOU, as a reader, will be given a choice to decide a topic for the chosen club you want them to act. Hahahahaha~! It might not make sense yet but it will when I want to do it again~!**

 **Anyway, the next theme will be...well, I don't know what to call it but, think of it as a stepping stone in bringing out the pairings. Anyway, hoped you liked this chapter (although it sucks IMO)! Leave a review or a comment down below so that I can get rid of this writer's block as soon as possible~! But no worries, I will forced myself to write even if I feel so lazy! So, I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	14. Tutor (Honoka)

**Ever had that moment where you had to face with your worst subject? I'm sure it happens to everyone. Anyway, please enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 14: Tutor (Honoka)

The bell rang throughout the school, indicating the end of their last lesson period. Unable to stand the pressure of the class, Honoka finally let out a sigh of relief as soon as she heard the bell rang. Usually at the time like this, she would have waited outside at the hallway for her friend in the same club as they would walked together to their club.

However, she decided that she would skipped today's club activities. Not because she wanted to but because she had a MAJOR problem to settle first. That problem was called, homework.

Apparently, she did not finished her homework from last week and the teacher just had to mention it today in the class, which ended up her getting busted. As punishment, she received DOUBLE homework for today and must be pass up at the end of the week along with the previous one.

Letting out a sigh, Honoka took one last sip of her orange juice before tossing it into a trash bin.

"Well, now that that's settled. Might as well get started on finishing those homework. Ugh, though I think it might be faster if I had Umi-chan and Kotori-chan to help me..." talking to herself, Honoka pondered whether she should but she immediately shook her head in disagreement.

"No, no, no! I can't do that! I've already caused too much problem."

Her mind was brought back to the moment where she had to confess to all members of μ's that she couldn't attend to their practice and had to officially postponed it to a later date. Although she knew that the next DreamFes was coming up and everyone was just as nervous as she was, she had no choice. Not only that, she also had to skip her club activity today for the sake of completing her homework. She had to sacrifice so many things and never had she felt so much guilt for letting it happened.

"This time, I'll try to do it all by myself!" she filled with determination, Honoka got out all of her homework and placed it on her desk. Somehow, just looking at the books caused her determination to falter. To make it worst, it was one of her worst subjects in her class.

"You can do it, you can do it..." she told to herself as she opened one of the books before scanning the whole questions of what she had to do. However the sight of multiples questions inside the book created an urge inside of her to give up. Minutes felt like an hour and Honoka knew the previous urge was growing stronger than before as she faced a difficult question and she's not even halfway complete from that single book.

"Uwaah! I knew it was hard!" she whined as she slammed her face on the desk, only to slowly felt the pain throbbing at her forehead from the impact. "Ouch..."

"What exactly are you doing?" a sudden voice spoke up, causing the ginger-haired female to look at the owner of the voice, standing at her classroom's entrance.

"Eh? Hokuto-kun? What are you doing here?" Honoka titled her head, wondering why he was in her classroom instead of going for their club activity. She did told Umi to pass her message to the black-haired male that she couldn't attend for their club activity today.

"Club activity is canceled...again. So, what are you doing here?" he said as he walked towards her desk. Letting out a nervous laugh, Honoka slowly tried to cover her homework from Hokuto's sight but somehow, he already caught glimpsed of what she was doing.

"Doing your homework? How rare." he smirked, causing the ginger-haired female to glare at him.

"Hey! It's not like I've never done my homework." she pouted, crossing her arms as she looked away.

"Oh, really? Because from what I heard from Sonoda, you didn't finished your previous homework and ended up getting more from the teacher." he said. Honoka flinched by both of his statement and his stern tone. He reminded her so much of Umi. The male took a seat in front of Honoka's desk as he placed his school bag to the side.

"And that's why I'm here to help."

Blinking at the male, she wondered if she just heard him right but at the same time, she was delighted to hear the offer.

"Really?!" she asked as she leaned forward to the male, causing him to back away from her as he realized the sudden closeness between their faces. Hokuto nervously looked away before nodding his head. The smile on Honoka's face grew wider than before before it faltered.

"Oh, but..." Honoka mumbled. Sitting back at her seat, she looked at the male with concerned eyes. "Are you sure you're not busy? I mean, since there's no club activities, I'm sure you wanted to go home instead of staying back at school."

Although she was happy to find someone that could helped her, she didn't want to be a bother to him. Sensing her worried tone, the male regained his composure back and shook his head.

"Don't be ridiculous. You should know by now that I don't like going home early. Besides, I have free time right now. Might as well use it to help someone who needs any." After hearing the male's statement, Honoka smiled at him. Typical Hokuto, she thought.

"Thank you." she said with one of her usual smile while Hokuto nodded his head.

"Well, then. Show me which part you don't understand." Hokuto asked. Honoka showed the previous question that she was trying to solve to the male. When he took it, she was nervous that he would scold her because she couldn't understood something simple but he never did. Instead, he showed her how to solve the problem like any other teachers would when their students couldn't. Glad that he wasn't mad or scolding her, Honoka paid attention to every single explanations that Hokuto gave and tried solving the questions.

Time passed by without them even realized how long have they spent inside the classroom. It took her a while to complete the whole homework that she received but with Hokuto's help, it was possible. Solving the last question never felt any more relieving than she ever thought.

"It's done! I finally did it~!" Honoka cheered as she closed her book and jumped in joy, receiving a sigh from the male.

"You can get excited and all Kousaka, but make sure that you do you homework on time after this." Hokuto reminded the ginger-haired female before standing up.

"Sheesh, I know, I know. Seriously, you and Umi-chan really are alike, you know?" she pouted as she put all of her books inside her bag.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The reddish sky signaled them that it was getting late and club activities have long finished before they even realized it. The two of them decided that it was time to go home. As Honoka closed the door to her classroom, she turned around and smiled at the black-haired male behind her.

"What is it?" the male asked, confused by her action.

"Nothing. It's just that, I'm glad you helped me out, Hokuto-kun." she answered, causing the male to smile this time.

"I'm glad I could be of some help."

"No, really! You saved me a lot of time. I know I would had a hard time doing all of those without anyone's help." she said, earning a questioning look from the black-haired male.

"I'm sure you could have asked Sonoda or even Minami to help you out." he stated.

"Well, of course I wanted to but... I just don't want to give them any more problem." she said as she looked down on the floor. Hokuto gave her a look that told her to elaborate her reason. Letting out a sigh, Honoka told him about what had happened after she received her double homework from the teacher.

"I see. So that's why you didn't want to ask for their help." Hokuto glanced at the ginger-haired female beside him as they walked down the hallway together. Honoka could only nodded her head.

"I feel bad..."

"Well, all you have to do is to make up for it."

"Hmm, you're right. Now that all my homework is done, I don't have to worry about it anymore. And it's all thanks to you, Hokuto-kun." she smiled at the black-haired male, causing him to blush a little before looking back at the front.

"That's good and all but make sure you don't ignore any other homework you'll get from the teachers after this." his statement caused the ginger-haired female to slow her pace down until she finally stopped walking.

"Kousaka?" noticing she was not beside him, he turned around to face the female, worried. However, before he could even asked anything else, Honoka was already in front of him with her eyes twinkled in excitement as she stared at him.

"If that happens, well, can I ask for your help again?" she asked as innocently as she could. Hokuto could only stared back in disbelief. His silence and glare was enough of an answer but Honoka wouldn't give up yet.

"Please~?" Honoka peered closer to the male as he backed away from her until his back hit a wall, trapping the male in between the wall and the female. Honoka continued to persuade him as she asked many times for him to help her out, again and again until Hokuto finally gave up.

"Fine, I'll help you out. But this is just because you're so desperate about it..."

"Thank you, Hokuto-kun!" she jumped on him as she clinged to his arm, causing the black-haired male to blush a deep shade of red before looking away.

"A-Alright, alright. I get it. Just...let go of me..."

"Yay~! I have my own personal tutor~!" she cheered as she spun around before hopping forward with a big smile on her face. She could hear the male letting out a frustrating sigh.

"I'm nobody's personal tutor, Kousaka..."

Giggling at the male, Honoka skipped in the hallway, leaving the male behind as she thought of how easy her life would be to have Hokuto as her own tutor.

* * *

 **Must be nice to have a smart friend like Hokuto as a tutor. I'd imagined him being the smart guy in his class and Honoka would do anything to have someone like him to teach her everything.**

 **Anyway, sorry I've uploaded this chapter a bit later than usual. My new semester just started and I was busy choosing my subjects and preparing everything for my studies. But, don't worry. I'm still going to continue the story no matter what.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter! Leave a review and a comment down below so that I can read your thoughts and hopefully, that will helped me get my motivation going on! Again, thank you and I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**

 **p/s: One thing though, I have been informed about the new unit called 'Switch'. I will put them in the story but not sooner than you expected because I have no idea of what kind of relationship they have with the other characters so, I'm going to avoid doing that for now.**


	15. A Fellow Designer (Kotori)

**Making costumes are never really easy but the outcome will always be satisfying. Now, I wonder who am I talking about? Huhuhu~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 15: A Fellow Designer (Kotori)

"Hm..." Kotori pondered as she watched the half complete costume in front of her. She had put on the costume on one of the mannequin in the Handicraft Club. She stood there, all alone in the Handicraft Club room.

Surprisingly, the Handicraft Club had to cancel their meeting because Shu had some errands that he needed to settle outside the school. Kotori assumed that it might be costume-related errands because everyone in the Handicraft Club knew how dedicated Shu was when it comes to costume. As for the other club members, Mika was dragged along. Or, more like he went along willingly. Anzu had to take care of her job by checking up with all idol units in the school. Thus, leaving her all alone in the room.

Letting out a sigh, Kotori went back to her seat as she looked around. It was too quiet in the room. Though she always preferred working by herself with no disturbance, she felt a bit lonely without anyone from the Handicraft Club. Ever since joining the Handicraft Club, she had grown attached to all of the members of the club. Which is why she felt a bit lonely without them. Other than that, there was no one she could asked for help with her current problem.

"If only Anzu-chan was here..." Kotori mumbled as she glanced at her half complete costume. For the first time ever, Kotori was facing with a bit of, 'uncertainty'. She was not confident with her work which was rare for her to actually admitted it. She had followed exactly as the designs that both she and Nico had made long ago but something felt off.

"Hmm, why do I feel like something is wrong? But, it looks fine and everything so why...?" she pondered once again. Her thoughts were immediately interrupted when someone knocked the door. Taken by surprised, Kotori stood up and yelped.

"Hello? Is anyone inside?" a voice spoke from outside as they knew someone was inside. She couldn't identified who's voice did it belonged to.

"P-Please wait for a while!" panicking, Kotori grabbed a nearby sheet and covered her costume from being seen and made her way to the door. She opened the door and slowly peered outside, hoping that it wasn't Shu or anyone from the Handicraft Club. When she finally made eye contact with the person outside her club room, she was surprised to see Kiryu Kuro, a senior from class 3B standing outside.

"Huh? Kiryu-senpai?" she finally opened the door fully as she let her eyes gazed at the senior's full appearance.

"Oh, it's you. No wonder your voice sounded familiar." he said causing the grayish-brown haired female to let out a nervous laugh. Stepping aside as she let the male entered the room, Kotori made sure that her currently hidden costume wasn't standing out.

"Where's Itsuki?" the red-haired male asked as he turned around and faced the female, surprising her as she quickly averted her eyes from her hidden costume and stared straight into the senior's eyes. Thankfully, he didn't noticed her evasive behaviour as he waited for her to answer.

"Oh, Itsuki-senpai is not here. He said he had something to settle outside of school. That's why there's no club activity today."

"You mean, he left the school already?" Kuro asked and Kotori just nodded her head as she gave him an apologetic smile. The senior let out a sigh as he looked around the room.

"That guy... Asking me a favour and ended up leaving me here, wondering what he wants with me..." he muttered and Kotori just stood there as she watched the red-haired male muttering to himself. Kuro, however, noticed the female's unusual quiet behaviour and looked at her.

"I'm sorry for bothering you. Were you doing something in here?" he asked and Kotori tensed a little. Laughing it out, she shook her head.

"I-It's nothing~! Ehehehe!" she lied. At this point, Kotori wondered why she even bothered lying to the red-haired male. Kuro was not an idiot. That's why he knew that she was hiding something as his eyes pierced through her and saw through her weak lie. Suddenly, the male chuckled as it took Kotori by surprised.

"You're very bad at lying, you know that?" he gave her a smile. Feeling her face heating up, she looked away.

"Anyway," he spoke up as it caught Kotori's attention back to him. "I don't know what you were doing just now, but I'm not going to pry if you don't want anyone to know. I'll take my leave now so you can get back to your work."

He walked towards the door and Kotori suddenly felt a dilemma surfacing in her brain. True, she would liked to continue back her work but at the same time, she needed someone's help regarding her costume. Kuro was one of the costume designer like Anzu and from what she heard, he was considered as one of the best costume designer in their school other than Anzu and Shu.

"K-Kiryu-senpai? Please wait!" she called out to him. The red-haired male stopped from his tracks and turned around to face her.

"I... I could really use some help with something I'm doing..." she asked as she twiddled with her fingers. He stared at her before he faced her.

"Are you sure you want me to know what you're doing?" he asked. Kotori nodded her head. It was better than no one.

"But, I hoped you won't tell Itsuki-senpai about this." she asked in a pleading manner as she pressed both her palms against each other in front of her. The male was confused why she didn't want his childhood friend to know what the female was doing but it was best to comply to her request.

"Alright. I'll help you out but what is it that you need my help for?" he asked as he made his way towards her.

"Well...it's about the costumes I'm making for my group. I've already discussed with Nico-chan about the designs for the costumes but..." her words slowly died when she made her way to the costume that she had previously covered. Slowly, she took off the cover, revealing a white strapless dress with transparent veil from the waist until it reached the end of the dress. Kuro was actually taken by surprised by the sight of the dress.

"Well, what do you think?" Kotori asked the senior, a bit hesitant but at the same time, she hoped that he could identified what was wrong with her costume. Kuro walked around the mannequin as he examined the costume.

"I must say, the young lady was right about you." he spoke up when he stood next to Kotori, smiling as he looked at the dress.

"'Young lady'? You mean, Anzu-chan?"

"Yeah, she told me that you were one of the most talented designer she ever met. And I couldn't agree with her more." Kuro complimented the female beside him, causing the grayish-brown haired female to blush. She wasn't expecting a compliment especially when it's the one that came out from his mouth.

"So, what exactly is the costume based on?" Once that question left his mouth, Kotori tensed up. She wondered whether she should tell him or not. But she knew that if she didn't, he wouldn't be able to help her.

"I-It's...a wedding dress..."

Silence. Awkward silence. Kuro looked at her, a bit surprised but at the same time, confused.

"Are you...getting married?"

"No! Not you too, Kiryu-senpai!" Kotori whined and sulked, making the red-haired male panicked at the sight of the sulking female. It took him a while to calm her down before he finally got Kotori to explain the reason why she was upset. Once she told the senior about a previous event that took place in their club room, Kuro apologized to the female as he made a note to himself not to mention about marriage.

"So, you wanted my opinion about your costume?" Kuro asked as he watched Kotori put on the rest of the costumes on several mannequins in the room. Kotori nodded her head as she straighten up the last costume on the mannequin before standing beside the senior. Both of them watched the lined up costumes that Kotori had put up.

All of the costumes had the same style as the one that she first showed to Kuro. All of them had long, flowy dress that reaches the floor, decorated with transparent veil. They literally looked the same with the exception of the colour of the dress. They were all in different shade of light coloured based on their image colour. Though people might say it looked beautiful, Kotori on the other hand, felt as if it was missing something.

"I had this thought that I did something wrong but...I don't know what it is. That's why, I was hoping you could tell me what looked wrong in them." she looked at the male, her eyes were pleading for help. Kuro stared at the female before looking at the costumes in front of him.

"Tell me, Minami. What was the first thing that comes to your mind when you were about to make the costumes?" he asked. Confused, Kotori glanced at the senior before looking back at the costumes in front of her.

"Well, I wanted to make a costume that suits them of course." Kotori answered with a smile as if it was the most obvious answer ever. Kuro nodded his head as he approved of the answer she gave.

"A good answer. Well then, my next question is really simple. Those dresses," he pointed at the costumes in front of him. "Try to imagine your friends in those dresses in front of you. Does it suit them?"

Kotori did as she was told and imagined one by one of her group members in their own dress that she made. However, unlike the previous answer that she gave to Kuro, this time, she wasn't as certain as she was before.

"I-It suits them, I think?" she answered.

"You're hesitating."

Looking at the red-haired male beside her, she saw him staring at her as if he already knew the answer to her problem. Unlike her, she was confused. But at the same time, she felt like she understood what the male was trying to say.

"Kiryu-senpai, what exactly did I do wrong?" Kotori gazed at the dresses before casting it downwards.

"I think you already know the answer to that as much as I did. The answer is simple, Minami." Kuro said as he walked towards the dresses.

"Instead of making all of them with the same style, why not changed them?" he suggested, causing the female to look up at him, confused.

"Changed them?"

"Sometimes, we prefer making costumes that have the same style with each other. However, there are times when such thing are unnecessary. Everyone has a different kind of style that they liked. Or perhaps, that suits with their personality." he explained.

"I'm sure you know your friends better than the rest of us. What kind of style that suits them the most. Which style that clearly represent them as a whole."

Taking in every single explanations in her head, Kotori suddenly felt overwhelmed. She was finally able to see it clearly. Those long dresses. It doesn't suit them. It never really represented who they really were. She had stereotyped the wedding dress as those long, pure-looking dress that every girl dreamed of wearing when they married. But that was not her real intention of making those costumes. She wanted to make a costume that displayed each and every single member of μ's in their own style of wedding dress. That was the real intention.

Smiling at the answer that she had uncovered, she stared at the senior that remained standing near the dresses.

"Have you found it?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she nodded her head, the smile on her face remained. "Thank you, Kiryu-senpai! I'll make sure to change these dresses into the one that suits everyone! The one that brings out their true selves."

Kotori babbled on as she began to think about what should she changed on those dresses and so on. Too caught up by her own thoughts, she failed to see Kuro made his way towards her and stood beside her. The looming shadow over her caught her attention as she looked up to see the senior near her. What surprised her was not by his presence beside her but by his action as he pet her head.

"Making costumes isn't easy. I know because I've experienced it. That's why, whenever you feel like you need help, I'm always free to help out a fellow designer like you." Kuro said. A blush made her way to Kotori's face as she processed the whole sentence but slowly, a smile crept up to her face.

"Thank you, Kiryu-senpai."

* * *

 **Finally! I've done it! Well, guys. There you have it. The chosen one that I paired Kotori with. Wahahahaha~! I bet you guys weren't expecting it at all. That was the plan~**

 **Anyway, thank you for taking your time to read the chapter. Leave a review or a comment down below about the chapter~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	16. How Shameless (Umi)

**I'm pretty sure you guys already knew who I'm pairing her up right? Anyway, I hoped you liked it~! Have fun reading!** **ヾ（〃＾∇＾）ﾉ**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 16: How Shameless (Umi)

Another scrapped words. How many time have she done it? She lost count. Usually, Umi wouldn't be facing such a difficult time to come up with ideas. Somehow, today was a bit unusual. She couldn't come up with any ideas to write a new song for μ's. Tapping her pen on the table continuously, she stared at the blank page of her book, wishing that something would magically appeared in her mind. Unfortunately, it didn't.

"Come on, there must be something that I could use..." mumbling to herself, the tapping went even faster than it was before as she grew frustrated.

Finally giving up, she let out a frustrated sigh and puts down her pen and crossed her arms. It was unusual for Umi to show that side of her to anyone but thankfully, no one was around her to see such actions. Looking up, she found that she was all alone at the garden terrace, not even a single student were in the same area as her. Since all clubs had to cancel their activities today due to certain reasons, most students already went home except for her. Letting out a sigh, she looked at the blank page once again.

"What is wrong with me...?" she massaged her temples as she closed her eyes. Something didn't felt right and it bothered her. Was she sick? Didn't seemed so. Was she stressed? Not really but the fact that she couldn't identify what was bothering her might actually be counted as one. Getting too caught up with her own thoughts, she failed to realize someone approaching from behind.

"Umi-chan~" a voice spoke close to her ear, surprising the blue-haired female as she yelped and jumped away from her seat. Looking at the person responsible for surprising her, she found out that it was none other than Hakaze Kaoru. Surprised to find the flirt here, the male himself looked surprised as well. After an awkward silence for 5 seconds, the male finally broke the awkward atmosphere.

"That was...a good reaction."

Her face turned almost immediately as she frowned at the male. She didn't liked the way he surprised her and the fact that he found her was a bad sign.

"Hey now, don't make that kind of face. I want to see you smile too, once in a while." the flirt smiled as he regained his composure. Umi's frown slowly disappeared as she looked away, avoiding eye contact with Kaoru.

"It's kind of hard to do that after what you just did." Umi mumbled but Kaoru heard what she just said and he chuckled.

"Well, you've got a point there but I thought that surprising you might actually helped get rid of that stressed look you had on just now."

Upon hearing that statement, she immediately stared at the male with wide eyes.

"Y-You saw that?" she asked. When the flirt nodded his head, Umi felt as if she just want to crawl away from the place but she held herself from doing so and stood at her spot. Heating up, she looked away, avoiding his gaze once again. Kaoru's laugh caused the blue-haired female to glare at the male from the corner of her eyes.

"It's not funny..." she said and Kaoru's laugh finally slowed down as he stared at her with his usual flirty yet charming smile.

"Aw, come on. I just wanted to cheer you up. It hurts me to see you looking all stressed up." he said, his smile remained but his expression changed into a sad look. Umi have to admit, she was a bit touched by his concern but she knew that he was just acting. It was unfair, in her opinion. He knew that she was the type to easily soften up whenever people were being nice to her and he took advantage of that. At least, that's what she thought.

"Thank you for your consideration but I'm fine. I just...need some time alone." choosing her words carefully, she hoped he got the message right. It's not that she hated him fully. Maybe a little but most of it because of his personality. His flirty side pushed the wrong buttons in her and she didn't liked it. Kaoru hummed in an understanding manner as he took a glance on the table where Umi was at before. She saw where his line of sight went and looked over to catch him looking at her book.

Embarrassed, she snatched the book and hid it behind her back, earning a questioning look from the male. She knew that she left the page blank but she didn't want to risk giving him the chance to take her book.

"So, what were you doing just now? You looked so serious back then."

"It's..." Umi stopped herself from saying 'nothing'. As much as she wanted the male to leave her alone, she didn't want to come off as rude especially when he was one year older than her. "I just wanted to write some lyrics for μ's' new song."

"Lyrics? Oh, I remembered. You're μ's' lyricist, right?" with a nod from the blue-haired female, Kaoru whistled as he crossed his arms.

"Must be tough huh?" he leaned at the table, facing her. Umi shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, at first it was. But I slowly got used to it."

"Well, that's good and all but somehow it didn't looked like you were having an easy time before this." his smile changed slightly. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks with her but she felt as if that smile he had right now was implying something. Even so, she shook the thought away as she tried to come up with a reason. Unfortunately, her mind betrayed her.

"T-T-That was..." unable to come up with any sort of counter, she found herself stuttering and eventually, she couldn't even think of anything. Avoiding his gaze, she could tell that the male was smiling at her actions.

"You know, I can help you out with that if you don't mind." Tensing up, Umi knew where he was going with the flow and she didn't liked it.

"T-Thank you for the offer but...I'll be fine."

"Ouch, so cold~ I know I may not look like it but I'm pretty good with words. I'm sure that I could helped you out in some way or another. Come on, sit down. Let's talk~" Kaoru took a seat at one of the empty chairs at Umi's table.

Letting out a sigh, Umi knew that running away or coming up any reasons by now would be futile. As Anzu once said, it was hard to run away from him once he have controlled over the situation. Giving up, the blue-haired female slowly went back to her seat but dragged her chair away from the male, earning a chuckle from him.

"You know that I'm not going to bite you or anything right?" he asked, propping his chin in his palm as he gazed at her. Blushing a little, Umi placed her book back at the table. She had decided. The moment she accepted his offer, she would pay no mind to any of his advances. She cleared her throat before speaking up.

"So then, how are you going to help in this, Hakaze-senpai?"

"Umi-chan is so serious~ And please, just call me Kaoru." Umi knew that she was in for a long time, spending it with the male. It took a lot of patience in her to focus on her task but at the same time, resisting the urge to choke him. It didn't stopped her from glaring at the male whenever he changed the topic and flirted with her. It immediately shut him up but at the same time, he would teased her 'cute' expression.

Amidst of all the flirting and teasing, Kaoru did focused on what Umi had told him especially when it actually caught his interest.

"Summer theme huh?" Kaoru pondered. If there was one person who has a connection with the summer season, the closest one would be Kaoru himself. He loved the sea so much that she wouldn't be surprised if he had some ideas that he could share with her.

"Who was the center again?" he asked.

"Well, we've decided to let Nico be the center. After all, she was the one that suggested in making a new song for the upcoming season."

"Nico-chan huh? Well, I know for sure that she's the type that would sing everything cutely." he smiled. After thinking for a while, Kaoru gave out his suggestion to her. "I'd think it's best if you use the idea of 'enjoying the summer with friends' for her."

"Enjoying the summer...with friends huh?" Umi noted down the idea in her book. It was a vague idea but at least she could expand more from there. Plus, it matched with Nico's personality.

Umi frowned when she finished writing it on her book. Kaoru's idea was so simple but could be meaningful if she knew how to use the right words. It was something so simple but she overlooked it. Without paying any attention to the male across the table, Umi began to write down more words that were related to the idea. Somehow, when she was writing, she felt uncomfortable. Looking up, it turned out that he was staring at her with a blank expression. It felt as if he was looking through her.

"What?" she asked, timidly.

"Was it helpful?" he asked, his smile came back which surprised her. Blushing, she looked away. She had to admit, his smile was contagious. The more she saw that smile of his, the more it tugged her heart as she found it attractive. But she won't fall for it although it was hard to ignore his smile.

"Y-Yes. I-It was something, at least." she stuttered, earning a chuckle from him.

"That's good to know. So, what did you come up with?"

"If I told you what it is, that would spoiled the fun in the song." she closed her book before looking at the male. "Besides, I need to tell the others whether they agreed to it or not."

"Haha, can't argue with you on that one. I'll look forward to it when summer arrives~" he winked. After sending a glare at the male, Umi gathered her things up before she decided to go back home. Although she was about to leave, Kaoru didn't budged from his seat as he continued to stare at the blue-haired female.

"Um, Hakaze-senpai..." she called out as it somehow snapped the flirt back to reality. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, she finally bowed down to the male. "Thank you...for helping me out."

Surprised by her actions, Kaoru remained silent even when Umi had stopped bowing down to him. Umi didn't questioned why he looked so surprised. She thought that maybe it was because this was the first time she was being nice to him. After saying goodbye, she left the area but not before Kaoru's voice caught her attention back.

"Hmm, now I feel bad when you said that~" Kaoru scratched the back of his neck. Confused, Umi turned around to face him again. He looked a bit troubled but he was still smiling.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well..." he looked away for a while before looking back at the female, shrugging his shoulders. "I may have suggested that idea because all I wanted out of it was to see you girls in a swimsuits~"

Umi felt as if the whole world stopped along with her heart. It took her a while to process the whole sentence until she finally realized that she had been deceived. Her face began to heat up as she imagined herself wearing a swimsuit and to make it worse, he will be there to see her in that appearance.

"H-H-H-" Umi stuttered, earning a questioning look from the flirt.

"What?"

"H-H-H-H-How shameless of you!" she ran away as soon as she screamed at him, leaving the place as fast as she could. Kaoru's gaze remained at the spot where the blue-haired female stood before she ran away.

"Ahh, I messed up..." he let out a sigh as he crossed his arms. Not long after that, he smiled. "But at least I get to see her flushed face again. Worth it~"

* * *

 **Poor Umi. Getting tricked by the infamous flirt was not something that she will bode well after this. Or maybe not? Who knows?** **（￣～￣） I'm sure everyone knew what song I implied in the story. Huhuhuhu~! Can't wait for that to happen~**

 **Anyway, hoped you liked this chapter! Sorry it took so long for me to update it. Hehehe, thank you once again for reading the story and I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	17. A Great Company (Maki)

**Ever had that feeling when you felt so disappointed and upset that you don't want to talk about it to anyone and yet, you wanted to let it out from your chest? Yeah, I've been through that so many times. Anyway, let's just go and start reading~! Have fun~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 17: A Great Company (Maki)

"Alright, perfect." Looking over at the music sheets that was recently finished written, Maki nodded her head in approval. She puts away the music sheets in an empty file before she placed it inside her school bag. Standing up from her seat, she stretched herself after sitting for a long time in front of the keyboard. By the time she noticed the red, evening sky outside, Maki's mind suddenly clicked.

"Oh, that's right. Papa said he wanted to come and pick me up today." Maki reminded herself. Although it was nothing special for parents to pick their children up from school but for Maki, it was different. She knew both of her parents were busy with their work and the fact that her parents were coming over for her, it warmed her heart. Plus, it was her father. Someone that she rarely had the time to spend together with.

She went and cleaned the room a bit, making sure it was tidy and in proper place before she packed her things. While she did so, her phone started vibrating and she immediately knew that it was probably her father. Taking out her phone, she checked who it was only to surprise her when she saw a different name that appeared on the screen. Confused, she clicked the answer button before placing the phone at her ear. "Hello? Mama?"

" _Hello, Maki? It's me, Mama. Are you still at the school?_ " her mother's voice spoke from the other side.

"Yeah, I am. I'm still waiting for Papa to come and pick me up. What's wrong, Mama?" the red-haired female asked as she looked outside at the window, facing the school entrance. She haven't seen her father's car yet so she assumed that he was on his way.

" _Um, Maki. I know that I was a bit too late to tell you this but..._ " her mother's voice wavered and Maki didn't liked the tone she was using. As if she could predicted what she was about to say, her mother's sentence only confirmed it even more. " _...Papa couldn't come and pick you up today._ "

A bit surprised and taken aback, Maki didn't replied to her mother's statement back. She had expected something like that would have happened but at the same time, she was surprised by it. When Maki still remained silent, her mother took it upon herself to explain the reasons.

" _He's in the emergency room right now, treating a patient that the hospital received recently. And I..._ " her words were cut off when Maki could hear some people talking in the background in a rushed and worried tone. " _Maki, I'm really sorry for not telling you this earlier but if you want, I can come over and-_ "

"No, it's fine Mama. I understand. You don't have to come over." Maki replied as casual as she have always been. She knew her mother was hesitating, worried about her situation. "I can just walk back home as usual."

" _A-Are you sure? It's getting dark and you're walking all alone-_ "

"I have a friend waiting for me. That's why, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." she quickly dismissed her mother's concern. She had no choice but to lie. Her mother didn't spoke for a while before she did again.

" _If... If that's the case, then I guess that's good. But if there's anything that you need-_ " her voice was cut off once again, this time Maki could heard a panicked voice from the other side as whoever they were told her mother to come over and helped them immediately.

" _M-Maki, I have to go. I'm really sorry for this dear..._ " her mother's voice sounded panicked and Maki knew that she had to let her mother focused back to her work.

"It's fine, Mama. I'll see you at home. Goodbye."

" _Goodbye. Be safe okay? Text me once you arrived home. I love you._ " the call ended when she heard the line cut off. She knew she just lied about going home with a friend and even when she told herself many times again and again that she did it for a good reason, she couldn't help but felt disappointed. And it hurt her.

* * *

Walking down at the sidewalk, Maki looked up at the now, darkening sky. She knew that walking all alone in her situation was a big risk but she didn't care. Maybe a little but her mind was so preoccupied by the previous event that she didn't care.

Letting out a sigh, she wondered if she should have called Nico to walk home with her. Or even Hanayo. Or Rin too. Thinking about them, Maki shook the thought away. As much as she wanted to walk with them, she knew that even if they were with her, she couldn't forced herself to be in the mood to joke around. She was a bit depressed with the whole event that had happened.

Unlike other students, her parents were well-known doctors and as doctors, they rarely had the time to spend around their family. In her case, she was the victim in the family. Even so, she never blamed them. She never complained or threw a fit for being neglected by her parents. Because she knew it was their job and she would go as far as pushing her feelings aside when it comes to her parents' work. Even so, this time, it felt different. It hurts, a lot.

As she continued walking at the sidewalk, her view suddenly turned a bit brighter as she arrived at a small park near a lake, illuminated by the light posts around. Letting out a sigh, she stopped by the park and sat down at a nearby bench. At this point, she even wondered what made her stupidly brave to wait in the dark, empty park.

Letting out another sigh, she took out her phone. The time shown on the screen of her phone was 7:55 p.m. Closing down her phone, Maki looked up at the sky as she saw stars twinkling in the dark. Letting her mind lost in her own world, she got up and went to the middle of the park as she gazed at the sky above. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't noticed a small figure walking towards her and brushed against her leg.

"Kyahh!" she jumped away and fell on her bottom as she hit the ground. Surprised by the sudden contact, she looked around to find the source that was brushing against her leg until she saw a little movement in the dark as it came closer to the light. When it finally came into view, her eyes grew wide.

"A-? A...dog?" she said as she continued to stare at the fluffy, brown dog. She took into account that it was a corgi breed and what made it stand out was the black, spiked collar it had around its' neck. "What are you doing here all alone?"

The corgi tilted its' head when she asked the question. Slapping herself mentally, she forgot that it can't speak. Looking around, she tried to find if there was anyone nearby but apparently, it was just both her and the dog. Looking back at the dog in front of her, her heart suddenly felt heavy.

"Don't tell me...that you're lost?" once she asked the question, the dog barked. As if it had confirmed her question, Maki hung her head down as she felt a headache taking over.

"Ugh, why did this have to happen now? I already have enough problems to deal with and now I have you to-" her words slowly died as she looked at the dog straight in its' eyes. Somehow the corgi's eyes looked fierce and strong that Maki somehow had the impression that it wasn't lost or anything. To her, the corgi looked like it was there because it wanted to. Slowly, she reached out to pet the dog but when it started to growl at her, she pulled her hand back, surprised by its' reaction to her approach.

"I'm not going to hurt you... I just..." she tried reaching out again, as slowly and gently as she could. The dog pulled away from her until it slowly started sniffing her hand, cautiously. When her hand almost made contact with the dog's nose, it bumped its' head and rubbed it against her palm. Surprised by its' sudden friendly action, Maki slowly petted the corgi's head gently. Somehow the fluffy fur against her skin made her heart warmed up.

"You're...really cute, you know that? Despite your appearance." her eyes went over to the spike collar, hoping to find a name tag. "I wonder what's your name?"

The corgi barked at her. Maki giggled at the dog as it suddenly sniffed her as it circled around her body. When it finally stopped, the dog sat in front of her as if it was waiting for her to do something.

"I wonder where's your owner? Whoever they are, they must be worried about you right now..." she stroked the dog's back as it gave out a pleasing whine. Giggling once again, she tried picking up the dog. At first, it backed away from her but when Maki slowly reached out to it again, the corgi slowly let itself being lifted up, pulled into the red-haired female's embrace. Maki made her way to the previous bench and she sat down.

"Your owner must be a nice person. Taking care of you and everything." she said, smiling at the dog and it barked at her in return. She liked the way its' fur felt whenever she petted or stroked its' body. Despite it's tough-looking appearance, she found the dog to be really tame especially when she was just a stranger not too long ago.

"It must be nice to have a pet. Maybe I could ask Papa and Mama to buy one for me too." she wondered.

Suddenly her mind went back to the previous conversation she had with her mother. Her hand slowed down and when she finally stopped, the corgi turned around to look at her. Looking at dog's eyes, Maki let out a sigh as she looked at the sky above.

"I wonder, do animals feel hurt when they get lonely too?" she asked and the corgi tilted its' head. Maki looked back at the dog before petting its' head, slowly. Giving it a sad smile, her mouth started to move on its' own.

"I've always been alone, ever since I was a child. I liked being alone, to the point that I found it comforting. It's not like I was distancing myself from my parents but, I guess, because I knew that they never had the time to spend with me or pamper me all the time." she said. It was weird that she was letting out her feelings to a dog. However, she felt as if it understood what she was talking about.

"It's weird. I don't normally felt this hurt when Papa or Mama couldn't picked me up from the school. It's always been this way ever since I was in elementary school. There were times that I was a bit upset that they couldn't picked me up but I would brush it off as I usually did. This time however, it was different. I guess, I was...disappointed." she cast her gaze down, obviously hurt by what had happened today. Instead of brushing it off as she usually did, that pain remained stuck inside of her.

Letting out a sigh, Maki slumped her shoulder as she wondered if she was even sane right now. Talking to a dog, staying out at night, it wasn't like her to do all of those. The corgi had been silent the whole time but when Maki finally stopped talking it let out a whine as it peered closer to her face. Smiling at the dog's action, the red-haired female continued to pet the dog.

"I'm sorry you had to listen to all of that. I didn't mean to let you hear my complains. I guess, I just wanted to get it off my chest." suddenly the corgi barked at her. Surprised by the sudden bark from the dog, she giggled. "Ah, geez. You're a weird dog, you know. Listening to me when we don't even know each other."

"Trust me, the weird one right now is you." a voice spoke up behind her.

"Kyahh!" she jumped away from the bench as she looked at the owner of the voice. Turned out that the voice belonged to none other than Oogami Koga.

"K-Koga? What are you doing here? More importantly, how long have you been there?" she asked, her tone sounded cold and a little bit demanding. Smirking, the grey-haired male crossed his arms and he placed it at the bench.

"Ever since you brought Leon to the bench." he pointed to the corgi as his smirk grew even wider. Maki slowly realized that he had been there ever since she told her story to the dog, which she noted its' name was Leon. Feeling her face heating up, she crossed her arms as she tried to play it cool, making it not so obvious that she was embarrassed. As if it wasn't enough to make her more embarrassed, she knew that Koga could have probably heard everything she just told to the dog.

"Y-You could have just said something. I wouldn't have wasted my time waiting for its' owner to come and pick him up." she crossed her arms, looking away.

"Hmm, is that so? Looks to me you were enjoying my dog's company. As expected of Leon, no one could resisted his charm. The best dog raised by the best owner." Koga said with a hint of a proud tone as he petted Leon's head. Slightly annoyed with the tone he was using, Maki gave him an incredulous look.

"What's that? I don't get what you mean..."

"Hah! Of course you don't. Leon and I shared a tight bond that only both of us know what it meant. Am I right?" he asked the corgi and it barked at him, wagging its' tail. Maki tried her best not to roll her eyes in front of him although she was a bit surprised. To think that the corgi was actually a pet that belonged to Koga, she found it hard to believe. Leon was gentle and calm at times whereas Koga was rough and aggressive. Even so, she did saw the familiarity between them where they had the same tough and fierce looking appearance.

"Anyway," Koga spoke up, breaking Maki's thoughts as she was brought back to reality. Looking up to face the male, Koga was looking straight at her as he turned around. "It's getting late, so I'll walk you back home."

Without waiting for her answer, he walked away from the park with Leon following from behind. As she stood in the middle of the small park, she watched as Koga and Leon continued walking.

"H-Hey! I didn't asked for your help. Don't go and make decisions without my approval." she called out to the grey-haired male as she walked towards him to make sure he heard her. The male glanced back, his smirk crept to his face.

"Too bad! I'm feeling a bit generous today after you've kept Leon a company. Be grateful that Yours Truly is offering such generous offer!" he said, surprising the red-haired female. Speechless at the male's sentence, she was left behind again before Leon's bark snapped her out from her thoughts as she tried to catch up to them.

* * *

"Finally here. Damn, your house is pretty far..." Koga mumbled as they finally stopped in front of Maki's house.

"Don't go start and complaining since you're the one that offer to send me back willingly." Maki crossed her arms. Koga rolled his eyes while Leon barked at them. Looking down at the corgi, Maki let out a sigh before she looked at the grey-haired male.

"Well, I supposed you deserved a 'thank you' from me. That's why, thank you, Koga. For sending me home." she smiled when she said her gratitude which caused the male to blush. He crossed his arms as he tried to cover his embarrassment from the red-haired female as he looked away. "Hmph! Good to know that you didn't forget how to be thankful!"

Maki giggled with a teasing smile as she found his embarrassment so obvious no matter how hard he tried to cover it up. Just when she was about said something, Leon barked at an approaching vehicle. Both Maki and Koga looked over at the vehicle which was a car that Maki was familiar with. The car stopped in front of them and not soon after that, the driver opened the door.

"Maki!" Maki's mother came into view as she went towards her daughter.

"M-Mama?! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be-" before she could even finished her sentence, her mother hugged her. She hugged her so tight as if she didn't want to let her go.

"I was so worried! When I didn't received any text from you, I rushed back here as soon as the operation finished. Where were you?" she asked as she finally let go of her daughter, facing her with a worried expression.

"I... I had something to settle at school and before I realized it, it was getting dark. That's why..." Maki looked away. She knew she had to lie because she didn't want her mother to worry about her. She could feel someone's gaze at her and when she turned to her side, she saw Koga staring at her. It wasn't a judging or cold stare but just a normal, blank stare that implied he understood why she had to lie to her own mother.

"Is...that so? Well, all that matters now is that you're here." letting out a relief sigh, she smiled at her daughter. She looked over to the grey-haired male before she smiled at him. "Are you the friend that Maki talks about?"

Surprised that Maki's mother began to talk to him, Koga suddenly became nervous.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah..." he answered as his face started heating up, although he didn't knew what exactly does the 'friend' she was talking about implied as. Maki noted how humble he was acting in front of her mother. Obviously, he wasn't used to speaking to female adult.

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter." she bowed down at the grey-haired male. Her action caused him to panic as he thought of how to reply to the older woman's gratitude.

"Ah, n-no. It's not...really a big problem." he answered and Maki's mother faced the male again, smiling at him.

"I'm glad to know that. As you may know, Maki have always been walking home by foot when both her father and I couldn't pick her up. We're always worried about her safety." she looked over at Maki as she pet the red-haired female's head in a loving manner. "That's why, if it doesn't trouble you, can you help her out whenever she needs it?"

"M-Mama!" Maki was surprised that her mother was asking the grey-haired male to help her out. Just when she was about to tell her mother that it didn't mattered, Koga cut her off by saying,

"Yeah, I don't mind." Surprised, Maki faced the grey-haired male with wide eyes. Koga scratched the back of his neck as he looked away. It was clearly shown that his face was turning red from embarrassment. "I'm not really that busy and since I have a lot of time...I could, well, I can help her out if she wanted."

"Thank you, young man. I'm so glad that my daughter have such a nice friend like you. Especially since you're a male~ Maki have always been nervous around boys~" Maki's mother teased as she laughed, making Maki's face turned bright red.

"Mama!" Maki's face started to turn red by embarrassment as well. Although what she said was true, that was when she was just a young, little girl. Her mother asked a lot of questions regarding the male such as his name, his class and basically who he was at school. It took her a while to realize how late it was and a lot of convincing from both Maki and Koga to tell her mother that she didn't have to prepare a room for Koga to sleep over after what he had done for Maki.

Finally, Koga went back home. He walked down the dark road with Leon by his side as Maki watched him go. Maki's mother soon joined her as she watched the grey-haired male walked farther away.

"He looks like a nice boy. I'm glad you found someone that could give you a company from now on." she petted the red-haired female's head. Maki blushed at her mother's statement before she watched the now dark, empty road as his figure was nowhere to be seen. Her mother went back inside as Maki slowly followed her from behind. Thinking back to what had happened, she smiled.

"Yeah, he was a 'great' company." she said sarcastically.

* * *

~ Extra ~

"Oi, Maki. Will you hurry up?" Koga urged the red-haired female to pack her things up fast as their club activity finally ended. Maki, on the other hand, gave him a glare. "Geez, will you calm down? I'm just going to send these documents over to the staffroom. So, relax and wait for a while."

Koga growled as he glared at her before sitting down and crossed his arms. Without them realizing, Hinata was looking at them with suspicious eyes and kept quiet until Maki finally left the room.

"Hey, Oogami-senpai. Is it just me or have I seen you walking home with Maki-chan these past 3 days?" Hinata asked, eying the senior as Koga looked over at the oldest twin.

"Haa?! The hell does that have anything to do with you!?" the grey-haired male barked at him while Hinata just grinned. "Well, there's a rumour that you two are going out~"

"WHAT?! Now hold on! Who the hell spread that kind of dumb rumour?! I'm just sending her home because I don't want her mom to get worried, that's all!" Koga explained as he gripped the oldest twin back and forth, obviously irritated that Hinata believed in the stupid rumour while Yuta tried to break them apart.

"Hmm..." Rei looked over at the trio as he eyed Koga. The grey-haired male noticed his stare at him before he barked at him next. "The hell are you looking at?!"

"Doggie, while I did mentioned before that you should take care of Maki-chan since I treated her as my daughter however," Rei stood up, leaning closer to the grey-haired male with a sinister smile. "If you dare to make a move on my daughter, you will have to go through me first. Understood~?"

"Whoa, don't you think Sakuma-senpai just triggered a love triangle button?" Hinata recovered from the attack he received from Koga as he eyed between the two seniors while Yuta let out a sigh. "Brother, you've been playing that 'otome' game you recently bought didn't you...?"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, WE'RE NOT DATING!"

* * *

 **Oh god, another long chapter. Not that I'm complaining but it took me a long time to update this. And more importantly, I didn't realized that I just wrote the whole chapter so angst-y feeling at the beginning till the middle of it. Sheesh, thank god I found a way to make it all 'not-so-serious' chapter~! Hahahahahaha~!**

 **But anyway, there you go ╮(╯▽╰)╭ . A chapter about Maki, which happens to be my most FAVE character in Love Live~! I know that this chapter was a bit 'deep' but I've always been intrigued by her loner personality and I wanted to see how that could helped her get out from her shell. Plus, relationship progress~!** **ー** **( ´ ▽ ` )** **ﾉ**

 **Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Hoped you liked it~! I'm sorry, ONCE AGAIN, for not updating this chapter as soon as I could! Thank you for taking your time to read the story! Leave a review or a comment down below to give out your thoughts if you want and I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	18. Little Pet (Hanayo)

**I don't know how I should feel about this. Oh well, a shipper needs to ship~! Anyway, moving on to Hanayo's moment with a certain 'someone'. Enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 18: Little Pet (Hanayo)

"Hana-chan~" a teasing but sinister voice called out and almost immediately, Hanayo tensed up before she turned around and looked at the owner of the voice, standing behind her. Turned out that it was none other than Sena Izumi, a 3rd year student that LOVES to bully his juniors especially towards his most favourite victim, which was her. Taking his presence near her as a bad sign, she slowly walked backwards, away from the male and he, in return, walked forward with a malicious smile on his face.

"Can we have a little talk~?" The moment he asked her the question, she yelped before she ran away from her spot and left the male behind.

"Hey! Come back here! What did you give to Yuu-kun just now?! You dare to try and flirt with him when I'm not around!" he called out to her as he chased after the petite brunette. At this point, she didn't even care if the teacher caught them for running in the hallway because all that was in her mind was to get away from the crazy male as he chased her from behind.

"I didn't do anything!" Hanayo ran even more faster until she finally lost him.

* * *

Panting for air, Hanayo slid down from the wall as she slowly let herself fall. She didn't want to face the male and she would do anything to make sure that she wouldn't get caught by him. Looking around her, she found out that she ran to the rooftop and thankfully, no one was around. She secretly prayed that the crazy 3rd year male won't find her at the area as she waited for their recess period to end, quickly.

"Why did it come to this..." she mumbled as she looked at the sky above. It has became a mess ever since Izumi found out that she had a crush on Makoto. How did he knew, she will never get the answer. The real problem right now was the fact that walking around the school was not even safe when she knew that the crazy male was out there, stalking her every movement. Shaking the thought away, she silently prayed that he wouldn't find her at the rooftop. Unfortunately, her prayers weren't granted.

"Found you~" In an instant, she was tackled from behind as someone wrapped their arms around her neck and dragged her away.

"Nooooo! Someone save me!" Hanayo thrashed around as she tried to get away from the crazy senior.

"Fufufu~ Do you really think you can run away from me? I called you out nicely and you immediately ran away from me. Do you have no manners~?" Izumi continued to drag her away from the entrance of the rooftop, preventing her from calling other people or running away from him.

"B-B-B-But! You looked so scary!" she tried to explain as she continued to get away from the male's grip.

"Haa~? In case you're blind, I was smiling at you. Which part of that was scary? Oh, wait. I forgot, you are blind~" he teased the petite brunette. Hanayo continued to struggle as he kept pulling her away.

When they were far enough from the rooftop entrance, he pushed her against a wall and trapped her in between his arms at the side of her head. Looking up to see the senior giving a malicious smile, Hanayo quickly covered her face from the male. It was bad enough for her to get caught by him and now, she has to deal with this crazy male until he was finally done with her. Unable to think properly, she stayed at her place without moving or budging, but she trembled a little. To Izumi, he found her actions quite amusing.

"Hm~ Not trying to run away? Good, good. I see you've learned your lesson. After all, we've always been playing this hide-and-seek game all the time. You should know better that it was futile to run away from me~" the senior teased as he leaned closer. She won't deny that she had gotten used to it to the point that it had became a part of her daily life in Yumenosaki. She could literally tell that this kind of situation will take place no matter how much she tried to avoid it. Even so, she was at the point that she was tired with all the chasing and hiding.

"Now spit it. What did you give to Yuu-kun?" he asked, his tone sounded more demanding than his previous teasing and sinister tone. Hanayo peeked from the gap of her fingers as she looked up at the male. His glare was enough to make her trembled especially when he was so close to her face that she could even tell that her face was heating up.

"I-I-I just gave his book back! He dropped it a-a-a-and I just wanted to give it back to him before h-he left! T-That's all, really!" she answered honestly. However, Izumi's glare grew even more intense when she finally answered his question, scaring the petite brunette.

"Oh, is that so? Now, how do I know that you didn't slipped a love letter or a note inside his book before you gave it back to him? Hmm~?" he asked, this time his infamous malicious smile crept up to his face, forcing Hanayo to fully covered her face.

"Please stop! I really didn't do anything like that! I'm sorry if you're upset with me..." her voice was starting to lose energy. It turned soft as if she was whimpering.

"Haa? Do you really think an apology is enough to make me forgive your actions?!" he asked. Hanayo shook her head slowly as she kept covering her face, refusing to look at the senior.

"Ah~ You're so annoying! Stop hiding from me and show me that pathetic face of yours!" he pried her hands off but the moment he uncovered her face from her hands, he froze. The sight of Hanayo crying was surprising that it made the male completely confused as well as numb. It wasn't the usual tears that appeared at the corner of her eyes. It was an actual crying.

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." she kept apologizing in a soft voice, her eyes closed but the tears kept falling down as it streamed down on her cheeks. The silence she get from male piqued her curiosity as she slowly opened one of her eyes as she looked up. What she found out was surprising when she saw the male staring at her with a look of surprised on his face. Even when she finally opened both of her eyes, he continued to stare at her although his surprised look was starting to fade away.

"Sena-senpai?" she called out to him which finally snapped him out of his world. A couple of seconds passed by and the male glared at the brunette before he forcefully threw her hands away.

"God, look at you. Crying over a couple of simple questions. How lame~" he said as he crossed his arms. He walked away from Hanayo as he sat down at a bench in front of her. Crossing his legs, he stared at her with his cold gaze, scaring the petite brunette.

"Come here." he said in a demanding tone. Hanayo swallowed hard, sniffing back her tears as she slowly got up and walked towards the male despite having the urge to run away from him. She didn't want to risk it. Not after he had calm down and was trying to talk to her in a proper and civilized way.

"Seat down." he said and she did as he told. They sat in silence as the awkward atmosphere made Hanayo uncomfortable, shifting on the bench. She would occasionally wiped her tears away but the tears kept streaming down on her cheek. It was embarrassing that she cried in front of him even though she have cried more than once but she have never cried so badly in front of him. Her train of thought were interrupted when something came into her view. It was a handkerchief.

"Take it." Izumi spoke up. Looking to her side, she saw him looking back at her with a cold gaze. Exchanging glance between the handkerchief and him, she gave him a confused look and in return, Izumi gave her a glare next. "Don't get the wrong idea. I just hated that face you're making right now. It's pathetic~"

He literally shoved the handkerchief to her face as Hanayo took it off from her face. Mumbling a soft 'thank you', she wiped her tears. Of course, Izumi began to pester her again and again by making her saying it louder so that he could hear her properly. It wasn't a big deal as she viewed it as his normal but gentle version of teasing. After messing around for a while, Izumi finally sat up and stood in front of her.

"Alright, enough playing around. This time, I'm going to ask you a question. And you better answer it honestly." he said, crossing his arms.

' _Oh no, not again..._ ' she thought but kept her face strong. She was nervous but as long as she answered honestly and confidently, she knew it would persuade the senior. Letting out a sigh, Izumi looked at her with a somewhat annoyed looked.

"Are you afraid of me?" the question surprised the petite brunette. It wasn't the kind of question she expected to be ask from the senior so she was left speechless as she processed the question.

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh?' me! Answer my question already!" he said, his tone slightly raised up which made her flinched.

"W-W-Well, sometimes..." she answered honestly. Despite feeling a little bit scared by the male, Hanayo began to calm down when she saw the male laughed.

"Hah! That's good to know. Because that was my plan the whole time~ Still, I wasn't expecting you to cry that much at my simple questions. How pathetic~ You little crybaby~" he teased her as he looked down on her. Hanayo could feel her face heating up as Izumi teased her. She knew he was just asking questions but the way he was asking felt like a threat that she couldn't help but felt threaten.

"Listen up, Hana-chan." he called out. Looking up at him, Hanayo saw him smirking at her before he spoke up. "It's all in your face that you don't like the way I treat you. Not that I care if you do complain about it~ Still, if you don't like the way I'm always teasing you and everything, I think the only solution to this is to let go of Yuu-kun~"

"Eh?! T-That's..."Hanayo looked at the senior, speechless. Not because he was forcing her to let go of her crush but because he wasn't acting as his usual, demanding self. Before she could even continued her sentence, Izumi suddenly slammed both his arms at each of her side, trapping her once again at the bench.

"But~" he leaned closer, his sinister smile crept to his face as Hanayo began to back away from the male. "I've realized that Yuu-kun has become more open up to you. So I think that's a good chance for me to get closer to him. That's why, I want you to be a good girl and continue to chase him~"

Either she was deaf or crazy, she was dead surprised by the statement made by the senior in front of him.

"Huh?! B-B-But why would you do that? I thought you don't like it when someone gets c-c-closer to Makoto-senpai?" she asked, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden change of event. Izumi in return, smirked at the petite brunette.

"Don't get the wrong idea~ Remember, I'm just using you. After all," he leaned closer to her ear as he whispered softly to her, "To me, you're nothing more than just my little pet~"

Hanayo could feel her face heating up ten times over as she felt his breath on her ear. His action caused the petite female speechless as she tensed up. At this point, she was pretty sure that she was broken by the fact that everything she didn't imagined to happen actually happened right now. However, her state soon broke down when someone interrupted them.

"Hey! Don't touch Kayo-chin!" a voice yelled in the distance and the only thing that both Hanayo and Izumi saw was a blur of orange speeding towards them as it kicked the senior, throwing him aside before it stood in front of the petite brunette.

"Kayo-chin, are you okay? He didn't do anything to you right?!" looking up to see who it was, Hanayo was not entirely surprised to find her best friend Rin, standing in front of her with a worried expression.

"Rin-chan? N-No, I'm fine." she answered as she glanced over at the senior, laying down on the floor, unconscious. Rin followed the petite brunette's gaze and once it fell on him, Rin glared at the male.

"Unbelievable! How dare you bully Kayo-chin when no one was around! I can't forgive you-nyaa! I hope you don't wake up at all!" Rin scolded the male, despite him in the state where he couldn't even hear what she just said. Rin pulled Hanayo and dragged her away from the male. "Come on, Kayo-chin. Let's leave before he wakes up."

Leaving the rooftop, Hanayo took one last glance at the male before she left the rooftop with her friend.

* * *

The school bell rang and it was time for club activities but unfortunately, the Tennis Club had to cancel their activities since everyone was busy preparing with their own "unit" activities. In Hanayo's case, she was searching for a certain senior that she needed to find before she went home. She searched the 3rd years' hallway and finally, she found him walking all by himself.

"Sena-senpai!" she called out and ran after him. The male turned around and glare at the petite female.

"Oh? You sure have the guts to see me after what had happened? Pretty bold~ One more thing, don't call me out so casually. Geez~ So, what do you want?" he faced her and crossed his arms as soon as Hanayo stood in front of him. After taking a breath, she handed out his neatly, folded handkerchief to him.

"I just wanted to give this back to you." she said. Looking at the handkerchief, Izumi just stare at it for a long time before he looked back at her with one of his eyebrow raised. Hanayo blinked her eyes as she looked at the handkerchief at her hand before she looked back at the male. "I-I've already washed it so, I, uh..."

Unable to explain in a more proper way, Hanayo was lost in thought as she tried to come up with a better explanation. Without saying anything, Izumi took the handkerchief from the petite female and shoved it inside his bag.

"So, is that all?" he asked, his face clearly showed his unamused expression. Surprised by his normal and casual behaviour, it took the brunette a while before she nodded her head and bowed down to him.

"T-Take care, Sena-senpai!" after that, she ran off. When she finally left the school building, she let out a relieved sigh. Walking towards the school entrance, her best friend, Hoshizora Rin suddenly appeared from her side as she looked at the brunette with worried look.

"Kayo-chin, are you sure about this?" she asked, causing the brunette to look at her friend with a confused look.

"What do you mean?" Hanayo asked as they walked side-by-side. Rin kept silent for a while before she told her friend what was on her mind regarding the senior.

"I mean, he's a bully-nyaa. Even if you act all nice to him or obey him, he will still be the same! I don't get why you could still be nice to him even after what he had did to you. Especially that part about using you! Unbelievable-nyaa! " It was clearly shown on Rin's face that she was bothered by the whole thing that happened between Hanayo and Izumi at the rooftop and she didn't liked it.

"Hmm. Well, it's true that he is a bully. And a bit scary too. But," Hanayo smiled as she looked at her friend. "I don't think he bullies people just because he felt like it. I think?"

Hanayo wasn't sure of what she was trying to say but she knew that Izumi doesn't do all of those without a reason. Rin, on the other hand, was completely lost at what her friend was trying to say.

"I don't get it-nyaa." Rin pouted, causing the brunette to giggle as they walked on the same path together towards their home.

* * *

~ Extra ~

After taking a long bath, Izumi went over to his school bag to take out his handkerchief. He wanted to wash it properly even if the petite brunette had told him that she had washed it before. Of course, he can't take any chances.

"As if I can trust her in cleaning this properly." he took out his folded handkerchief from the bag and something fell out from it. Looking over at what just fell down, Izumi found out that it was a small note. Picking it up, he wondered if there was anyone who gave him a note at school. Turning it over, he realized that it was from a very familiar female.

 _Sena-senpai,_

 _thank you for giving me your handkerchief during_

 _recess. And I wanted to apologize for what took_

 _place at that time too. Rin-chan can be rough but_

 _she didn't do it out of any ill intention. She was_

 _just being protective of me. So, I hope you can_

 _forgive her. Anyway, I hope you get better soon._

 _Take care and thank you again._

 _By, Koizumi Hanayo_

Reading the whole note made Izumi scoffed. After all he had done to her, she still had the guts to send him a note. Slipping it in between his handkerchief, no less. Suddenly, Izumi was reminded back when he accused the petite brunette of slipping a love letter or a note in Makoto's book. He found it ironic that he was the one that received such thing from her instead.

"Cheeky little brat. Doing this to me just because I gave her the permission to get closer to Yuu-kun." he muttered. Glancing back at the note, a smirk crept on his face.

"Well, at least she didn't do it to Yuu-kun~"

* * *

 **Finished~! Wow, I don't know what I just wrote. ┐(´∇** **)┌ But, yeah! Now you have finally uncovered who I'm pairing Hanayo with~! Huhuhuhu~! I know Izumi was supposed to be the 'bad and a bully who has no heart' senior but I think under all of that attitude, he cares for his juniors. (that's what I've learned in the wikia~)**

 **Anyway, that's all for this chapter between Hanayo and Izumi ship tease~! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! So, I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	19. Aiming to be the Best (Rin)

**When two lovable dorks compliment each other. I wonder how it'll go. Hahahaha~! I just loved imagining these two together. Who? I think you know who it is. (** **︶▽︶** **)**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 19: Aiming to be the Best (Rin)

It had became a daily routine for Rin to go out in the park during the weekends to do a little jogging. Ever since she enrolled into Yumenosaki and taking the Idol Course, she had to keep her figure in shape. Other than that, she had to make sure she raised enough stamina so that she could keep herself up for μ's' lives.

At first, she didn't expect to join the Idol Course but because she wanted to support her best friend, Koizumi Hanayo, she did. It was embarrassing for her to be wearing such girly costumes with skirts because she was never confident enough to show her feminine side to everyone, especially when she has to perform a live in front of a crowd. Even so, she began to think that it was a great chance for her to improve herself and regained her confidence. Of course, she still has a long way to go.

Rin was wearing her casual sport clothes consist of a white t-shirt with orange and green stripes along with a lime sport tights. Since she arrived early in the morning, not many people were around as she found that she was all alone, jogging around the empty park. It was a great opportunity in her opinion. All alone in the park, there was no one to bother her and she felt free. Of course, that moment didn't last forever. As she jogged down the path, she saw a familiar purple-haired figure in front of her, stretching and warming up. Coming closer to the figure, Rin realized who the figure was and ran towards him.

"Adonis-senpai!" she called out. The purple-haired male turned around and almost immediately, Rin stopped in her tracks and stood in front of the male, smiling at him.

"Oh, it's you. Good morning, Hoshizora." he greeted the female. Rin took the chance to catch her breath as grinned at the male.

"Good morning-nyaa!" she greeted back.

"It's quite rare to see you here in the morning, Adonis-senpai. Is this the first time you went to this park?" she asked. She was actually surprised to see the male in the park due to the fact that she have never bumped into him before in the area. Adonis shook his head as soon as he finished stretching his legs.

"Not really. I usually jog around my neighbourhood because it's close to my house. Sometimes, I just exercised in the house. That's why I rarely went to the park." he explained and Rin just nodded her head, taking in the information. Smiling, she asked if she could joined the male together and he agreed.

"Want to jog first?" she asked and the male nodded his head. Once they started jogging, both of them focused on their own activity. The silence between them was pleasant in Rin's opinion. Her mind suddenly wondered back to the moment she first met the male. She won't deny that she was actually quite intimidated by his presence, and his silent nature didn't help but made her felt like as if she was being judged. Even so, ever since she learned about the male's overprotective nature towards small and 'weak' people, her perspective towards him changed and slowly, she began to look up to him. The memory made the female giggled, causing the purple-haired male to look at the female beside him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused by her sudden action. The orange-haired female shook her head as they kept jogging around the park.

"Nothing-nyaa~ I just suddenly remembered something that had happened before." she grinned and the male didn't questioned why, which Rin was actually quite glad that he didn't.

Silence came back as they focused on their jog and Rin couldn't help but stole a glance at the purple-haired male. If she had to be honest, she was a bit intrigued by the male. He had the looks as well as the talent to become one of the best idols in the school but somehow she never saw him trying to overcome or challenged other idol students unlike some that she knew and it didn't help but made her wondered why.

"Hey, Adonis-senpai. Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" he gave her a glance from the corner of his eyes.

"What made you joined the Idol Course?" once the question left her mouth, Adonis turned his face to the side to look at her. "Well, I mean, have you always wanted to be an Idol ever since you were little?"

Adonis looked back to the front as he took his time to answer the question. Rin waited until he finally spoke up, "Not really. Originally, I wanted to enroll in the Regular Course. But my older sisters made me enrolled in the Idol Course instead."

"Eh?! But why?!"

"Well, mostly because they think it's interesting to see me being an idol." the answer she got from him was not what she expected. It left her speechless.

"T-Then, you never really wanted to be an idol in the first place?"

"Not really."

The answer she received only made her gawked in surprised. And she thought her own reason for entering the Idol Course sounded weak. She pitied the purple-haired male but she didn't dare to say it out loud. Although Adonis mentioned that he wasn't angry or upset by his sisters' actions, Rin couldn't help but sympathized the male's fate. Her thoughts were interrupted when Adonis spoke up.

"Why do you asked?" he asked.

Rin pondered for a while before she told him her reason.

"Well, I guess, I'm just curious why you joined the Idol Course. I mean, to be honest, you looked really cool whenever I watched UNDEAD performing a live. Especially now that I know that you never wanted to be an idol. It makes me think that, you really looked cool whenever I saw you on the stage-nyaa~" Rin explained, smiling at the male. Rin didn't realized the blush that crept up to the male's face as he covered it up by facing the front.

"You know what? The reason why I joined the Idol Course was because Kayo-chin wanted to become one and I wanted to be there to support her. But other than that, I don't really have a reason to join the course in the first place." her voice sounded sad and that made Adonis faced her as he turned his head to the side again. "Well, I guess it's because I'm scared-nyaa. I'm not really confident with my ability to be a good idol. I mean, it's a course for IDOLS. Unlike the rest of μ's, I'm not confident with my femininity. Even now, I still haven't got used to wearing skirts..."

The silence enveloped the two. Only the sound of their footsteps could be heard around the park. That was, until Adonis finally broke it.

"That's not true." he said and Rin looked up as she faced the male and their eyes locked on one another. Adonis smiled as he spoke up, "I think you're cute just by being yourself."

His answer surprised the orange-hair female as she processed the whole sentence in her brain and when she finally did, she could feel her face heating up. Even when she told herself that the purple-haired male was saying that just to comfort her, it didn't helped make the situation better because she knew that Adonis was the straightforward type and have never been the type to say sweet lies.

"T-T-That's-" When Rin was about to cover up her embarrassment, she tripped over a well-hidden rock on her path that she failed to notice due to her embarrassed state. Just when she was bracing herself to fall on the ground, she was held on the spot. Looking up, she saw Adonis in front of her as she found herself sprawled out in Adonis' embrace. As if his comment previously wasn't enough, the position she was in right now was good enough to make her face flushed red like a tomato.

"Are you okay?" Adonis asked, snapping the orange-hair female out of her embarrassed state. Nodding her head, she stood up and distance herself from the male.

"I-I'm sorry. I was just, um..." Rin casted her gaze downwards.

"No need to apologize. I would always make sure that everyone stays safe. Even you." he said and Rin blushed. She knew it was just his overprotective nature kicked in but somehow, her heart didn't slowed down ever since he said she was cute. Unbeknownst to her, her silence made the purple-haired male worried.

"Hoshizora, are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?" he asked, his expression showed how worried he was and Rin shook her head immediately, assuring the male that she was fine. After a long time persuading the male that she was fine with no serious injuries and preventing him from checking her body to look for one, Adonis finally gave up.

"I told you, I'm fine-nyaa. It's just..." she looked away before looking at the male straight in the eyes.

"I'm just surprised that you said I'm cute..." Once she said that, she could saw Adonis' face flushed a little before he looked away as well. Both of them stood on their spot, not moving or making an attempt to break the awkward silence.

"I'm not lying." Adonis spoke up. His statement made the orange-hair female looked up and faced the male. Adonis returned the gaze as he stared into her eyes. "What I said earlier, it's true."

Rin stared at the male with wide eyes as she waited for him to explain more in detail.

"To me, when I saw μ's performing their lives, I found out that each and every one of you have a certain charm. You, Hoshizora, are not an exception." Rin was surprised when she listened to Adonis' statement. "You represent the energetic nature in μ's. That's your charm, Hoshizora."

At this point, Rin was blushing so hard that she didn't know what to say or what to do. Instead of staying silent, she ended up saying something that could make her embarrassed ten times over.

"A-Adonis-senpai too! I-I think you're cool whenever I saw you on the stage. P-Plus, you looked really attractive too!"

Silence. Complete silence. Once Rin realized what she just sputtered out from her mouth, she slowly lifted her head to see the purple-haired male's reaction. As she expected, he was blushing only this time, it was visible in her eyes, meaning that he was blushing really hard. The two once again, avoid making eye contact, creating an awkward atmosphere as seconds passed by.

"Well...this is kind of awkward-nyaa..." Rin scratched the back of her neck, letting out a nervous chuckle. The male smiled before agreeing with the female. Not long after that, Rin began to laugh when she recalled back at how the event even came to be. Adonis slowly began to chuckle as well. It was funny when they were caught acting weird by one another. After having a good laugh, Rin let out a relief sigh. Somehow, the awkward atmosphere between them finally disappeared.

"But really? I'm cute? Hmm, maybe joining the Idol Course wasn't so bad after all~ Besides, I get to meet all kinds of interesting people! Even you!" Rin giggled as she went in front of Adonis and faced him. "That's why, thank you, Adonis-senpai. I'll do my best-nyaa~!"

Adonis smiled. Just when he was about to say something, Rin hold out her pinky finger to him, a serious expression on her face. "But you have to do your best as well! Even if you never wanted to be an idol in the first place, at least, I want to see you on the stage and show everyone that even you can be a great idol!"

Surprised by the orange-hair female's sudden spirit, Adonis slowly held out his pinky and intertwined it with her own, smiling as they held it.

"I promise. And I hoped you will continue to be yourself on the stage, no matter what people might view you as." he said and Rin grinned before she nodded her head. They let go of their pinky and resumed their jogging.

As they jogged down the path, Rin stole a glance at the male without him realizing it. Smiling by herself, she finally found another reason for joining the Idol Course. Although she realized it a little bit too late, to her, it was never too late to start aiming to be the best with her friends.

* * *

 **Who can ever resisted Adonis? I mean, his name literally meant beauty and desire. Of course, even Rin had to admit that he was attractive. Ahahahahaha~! I have to say though, these two are slowly raising up in my OTP chart for Love Live X Ensemble Stars. Why? Well, I show you why...in another chapter~! Muahahahahaha~!** **Ｏ** **(≧▽≦)** **Ｏ**

 **But I don't think I will focus too much on pairing chapters after this. I mean, I have a bigger, BETTER idea for the next couple of chapters that doesn't involved pairings. But it will still be in it. You know, just wait for it when I post it.**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	20. A Secret Between Us (Eli)

**These two are probably the most crack pairing in Love Live X Ensemble Star crossover, I think. But I have to admit, I'm slowly loving these two as a pairing. And it still keeps on growing inside my heart. Even now... As I typed this... Damn...**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

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Chapter 20: A Secret Between Us (Eli)

Whoever said that staying late at school was a good thing? Eli regretted her actions for staying behind at the school to help the Student Council with their work. Both Eichi and Keito had their hands full with other works and they were in need of several help from other students to take some of their burden off. In this case, she was one of those people.

"I didn't asked for this..." she whimpered as she looked at the window, facing outside. It was slowly getting dark but the post lighting scattered around the school ground helped illuminated some areas. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she wondered if she could survive walking all alone in the dark. She could call Nozomi to help picked her up but she didn't want to bother her. Pushing that topic to the side, Eli focused on finishing up before she finally organized the last stack of papers.

When she finally cleaned up the room, she made sure that everything was neatly arranged without leaving any spot out of its place. She finally decided to leave but there was one problem. The hallway was dark. It was so dark that only the moonlight from the windows illuminated the hallway. Taking a deep breath, she braved herself up as she walked out of the room. Locking the doors with a spare key that Keito gave to her, she finally walked down the dark hallway.

Clutching her school bag tightly, she walked as fast as she could to get out of the school. As she walked, she wondered at the same time.

"How am I going to go home like this..." she mumbled. Both of her parents were out of town this week so it was just her and Alisa in their house. Asking Alisa to come over to her school was never an option from the start. She stopped when she suddenly remembered something.

"That's right. Kunugi-sensei must be around at this time. Maybe I could ask for his help? I guess I'll go check the staffroom." after deciding her next location, she made her way to the staffroom, hoping that the teacher was still in the room. She quickly made her way towards her next destination until she reached the stairway. Unlike at the hallway, the stairs was a little bit darker due to no moonlight illuminating the area, scaring the blond female from moving forward.

"Just calm down. Nothing is going to come out. Nothing is going to come out..." as she chanted those words to remind herself, she descended from the stairs. Just when she reached the last step, she heard a noise coming from somewhere and it made her froze from her spot.

"I-It's probably just a wind or something. N-Not a big deal..." she reminded herself but when she heard the same noise again, Eli couldn't help but tensed up. Looking around, Eli made sure that nothing unusual was around her but the moment the moonlight was fading away, Eli started to panic. The clouds were moving fast as it covered the moon, making the whole area slowly covered by darkness.

As if Eli's heart wasn't high enough, the moment she heard a thunder booming nearby, she freaked out.

"Ekkkk!" Eli shrieked as she ran to the opposite side of the staffroom hallway. She ran as fast as she could, hoping to find a room that she could use to hide for a while. Unfortunately, all rooms in the school have been locked by the teachers before they left. That was until, she saw one of the rooms in the hallway still had its' lights on. Without wasting her time, she dashed towards the room, opened it and slammed the door closed.

Panting for air, she slowly walked backwards as she faced the door. While she was catching her breath, she failed to notice someone coming approaching her from bahind as it whispered close to her ear.

"Looking for something?" It was at that moment, Eli swore that she screamed so loud like she have never screamed before.

"KYAHHHHHH!"

She went to the corner of the room without looking at the source of the voice before cowering at the spot.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." she repeated her sentences again and again. Her eyes were shut tight as she clamped her hands over her ears, preventing herself from hearing any more noises or voices at that point. It took her a while to notice that nothing was happening to her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and released her hands from her ears. Turning around, she saw a familiar student standing behind her.

"S-Sakuma-san?" she tried to focus on the figure behind her. The tears at the corner of her eyes were blurring her sight as she tried to dry them away. Once she did, she finally saw his figure standing behind her with his arms crossed. He lets out a sigh and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"Finally, you've came through. Are you alright?" he went closer and extended his hand to her. Eli hesitantly reached out to his hand before she took it. When Rei pulled her up, Eli distanced herself from the male, avoiding from looking into his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry about that. I just, well, it's..." Eli was at lost words. She wasn't sure on how to explain. She was very embarrassed now that someone has seen her cowardly side other than μ's. Rei, however, gave the blond female one of his usual smile as if he was trying to reassure her.

"It's fine, Ayase-kun. You don't need to explain anything because the blame is on me as well. I shouldn't have crept up on you like that." he said as he walked away, going towards one of the shelves full of instruments. Eli quietly let out a sigh, relieved that the male didn't ask any questions regarding her cowardly state previously. Looking around, she found out that she was in the Light Music Club which explained why there were instruments in the room. Her thoughts were interrupted when Rei spoke up.

"Even so, I must admit. That was a pretty loud scream. As if you were scared by something." Rei turned his face around, smiling at the blond female. Eli flinched as she shifted uncomfortably at her spot, avoiding his gaze once again.

"Ahahaha... Well, I'm pretty sure everyone would be freaked out when someone suddenly crept up on you from behind." she showed a nervous smile as she tried to play along with the conversation, hoping that the male wouldn't questioned her even further. She heard the male hummed in a teasing manner before he stored all the instruments back into the shelves.

"A-Anyway, I'm sorry for bothering you, Sakuma-san. I'll be taking my leave then." she said as she went towards the door. She didn't want to disturb the male from doing his work so she didn't want to take the risk of exposing her weakness to him. However, the moment she opened the door, all she saw was an endless, dark hallway. Plus, the whooshing sound outside the school somehow spooked the blond female as she stood in front of the opened door. Slowly, she closed the door before she faced the male with a clumsy smile.

"O-On second thought, I might as well wait here." she said and Rei looked over at her.

"Oh? And why is that? Are you worried that I'll be left alone in the room?" he smiled as he closed the shelf. Eli blushed at his question before she looked away. She didn't want to admit to the male that she was actually afraid of the dark and she would do anything to prevent her secret from being exposed.

"W-Well, part of it. I just thought, it's better if I just wait for Kunugi-sensei here instead of going back to the staffroom." she said.

"Kunugi-kun?" Rei asked and Eli nodded her head as she explained why she wanted to meet the teacher without mentioning the reason that she was afraid of the dark and instead, she replaced it with another reason while Rei stayed silent the whole time.

"Unfortunately, Ayase-kun. Kunugi-kun have left the school long before the sun had set." Rei crossed his arms as he said that with a blank expression.

"Eh?" was all that went out of her mouth as she processed the information. Rei's expression remained blank, showing that he was not joking or lying.

"W-Wait. Does that mean, it's just..." she pointed at him before pointing it back to her. When Rei nodded his head, Eli paled.

"It's just as you've figured, we're the only ones in the school right now." Now that he had confirmed it for her, Eli slowly felt her energy drained away. She thought she would be fine if Akiomi was there to help her out. Now that she knew the teacher was out of the option, she looked up and faced the male in front of her. Liked it or not, Rei was the only one she could asked for help.

"Um, Sakuma-san. Can I-" before Eli could even finished her sentence, a sudden lightning lit up in the sky, flinching the blond female and stopping her from speaking. Rei noticed the lightning as well and looked at the dark sky above.

"Oh, is it going to rain?" Rei asked to no one in particular as he watched the view outside from the window. The trees outside swayed a little by the wind as the whooshing sounds were getting louder. Deep down, Eli hoped that it won't rain just yet. She still had a long way of going back home and if it really rained after this, she would have another problem to face.

"I-I hope not-" once again her words were cut off when another lightning lit up nearby, followed by a loud thunder.

"Ekk!" Eli yelped as she cowered on her spot, clamping her hands over her ears once again and shutting her eyes tight. The sound of the thunder surprised both of them as well as making the whole school turned pitch black. Apparently, the lightning had caused a blackout around the school. Due to the blackout, it was hard to see what was happening in the room but she could still hear Rei's voice nearby.

"Hm, a blackout huh? Well, it's not surprising with that lightning crashing down so near to the school." Rei said, completely unfazed with the whole event that took place.

"Ayase-kun?" he called out but Eli was too preoccupied by her own thoughts and fear that she couldn't reply back to his call. She heard him letting out a sigh and his footsteps were coming closer.

"Ayase-kun, are you alright-" the moment he placed his hand on her shoulder, Eli threw away all of her pride inside and hugged the male as tightly as she could. Her action caught the male off guard as she held on to him as if she was holding on to her dear life.

"W-What-" Rei couldn't finished his sentence when he realized she was trembling.

"Please don't leave me..." Eli whimpered. She held her grip on the male even tighter, refusing to let him go. "I don't like staying in the dark... So please, don't leave me..."

At this point, she didn't even care how pitiful she looked because all she cared about was to leave as soon as she could and away from the dark. Rei had remained silent until he suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

"My, my. What a troublesome child you are." his soothing voice whispered near her ear. Eli could feel his hand stroking her head slowly as if he was trying to calm her down. Soon, she stopped trembling but still held on to him.

"If only you said that earlier, I would have brought you out of here as soon as possible." he said and he stopped petting her head. Rei stood up, pulling Eli along with him. "Come. Let's go home, shall we?"

Eli was at loss words. She had expect for him to tease her for being a coward or at least make a comment about her fear. But he didn't. Even after they had left the room, Rei didn't even mention even once about her fear but he would occasionally brought up other topics to talk about. The walk was somewhat calming and she felt safe since she was holding on to his uniform sleeve.

Thinking back to the moment she hugged the male, Eli could feel her face heating up from embarrassment. The memory of hugging him was fresh in her mind. No matter how hard she tried to get rid of it, the memory remained stuck in her mind.

"Um, Sakuma-san?" she called out to him for the first time ever since they left the room. The male turned his face to the side as he looked at her.

"Yes, what is it?"

"About what happened...back then. Can you...I mean, please don't..." she started but she couldn't find the words to properly conveyed what she wanted to say. However, Rei gave her his answer even before she could finished her question.

"I won't tell anyone." his answer surprised the blond female as she looked up to him.

"I could see how much you tried to hide it, Ayase-kun. The moment you entered the room, I knew you were hiding something from me. When I think about it again, I found your actions quite endearing. You were hiding it so badly that I couldn't even bring myself to make fun of you." he smiled and Eli swore her face was as red as a tomato. It was hard not to blush when he said her evasive behaviour was endearing.

"That's why, I ask you to perish such thoughts. I won't tell anyone about what happened back then. In fact, let's keep this a secret between us." he gave her a knowing wink and Eli was surprised by the action but somehow, it warmed her heart that he was a thoughtful person. Smiling at the male, she nodded her head.

"Thank you, Sakuma-san."

"You're quite welcome." he said as he smiled at the blond female before he leaned closer to her. "And please, just call me Rei, Ayase-kun."

* * *

 **Finally! Done and done. Okay, this pairing have officially reached the same level as my Maki X Koga shipping. Hahahaha, why? I don't know. I'm just a normal shipper who loves to ship what I want to ship~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	21. Twisted Way of Fate (Nozomi)

**Ever wondered how fate works? Anyway, this chapter is about Nozomi and the chosen pair. Who? Just read it first~ Then, you'll know who.**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 21: Twisted Way of Fate (Nozomi)

Nozomi looked around the area as she tried to find her missing charms. They weren't her personal belonging but it was a handmade good luck charms that she made for everyone in μ's. Unfortunately, despite being a good luck charm and all, it certainly didn't bring any good luck to her situation right now.

"It must be here somewhere..." she wondered out loud as she recalled back the time she wandered around the school during their school period. She had searched almost everywhere. The classroom, the staffroom, the garden space and even the female's restroom. However, she still couldn't find the charms. She was searching at the fountain area as she looked around to see if the charms were dropped somewhere.

"Hm, this is quite troublesome... Just when I thought I could give them those charms right after practice." she mumbled by herself. She had planned to surprise them after practice by presenting those charms she made to them. When she realized they were missing, she knew she had to keep it a secret from them. If she had asked them to help searched for it, it would ruined the surprise.

Shaking the thoughts away, she finally left the area she was searching around and went back to the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Looking over at the fountain, she was expecting to see Kanata soaking in it. Surprisingly, he was not there. In fact, she was surprised to find no one in the area except for herself.

"Just when I thought I could ask for help, turns out no one is around to help me at all. Just how much luck is testing me right now?" she wondered before she resumed searching for the charms. It took a lot of time to search the area and a lot of energy to move around, going from another part to another part just to find the charms she made.

The sky was turning reddish orange as it signaled the purple-haired female that it was getting late. Letting out a sigh, Nozomi wondered if she should just quit and tried searching again tomorrow early in the morning. Just when she was lost in her own thoughts, she failed to notice someone approaching from behind as they suddenly wrapped their arms around her neck, causing the purple-haired female to yelp in surprise.

"Found you!" judging from the familiar cheerful and energetic voice, Nozomi's previous anxiousness and panic faded away as she let out a sigh.

"Ahh, geez. You surprised me, Chiaki-kun." she gently removed the brunette's arms around her neck before she faced him with a little smile. Chiaki stood there, smiling as usual until his smile faltered when he saw the look on Nozomi's face.

"Hm? What's wrong? Somehow, you looked glum today." he said. Surprisingly, Nozomi didn't expect the brunette male to see through her troubled face. She looked away before returning her gaze back at him. Chiaki puts on a serious face as he asked, "Did something happened, Toujou?"

"Ah, no, no. It's nothing. I was just searching for something that I dropped today. But unfortunately, I couldn't find it." she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hm, that's no good. Looks like you need help. Don't worry, Toujou! I'll help you out and I won't rest until I find whatever you were searching for back to you!" he raised his fist up, showing her that he was serious as well as determined to help.

"T-That's very nice of you but it's fine, Chiaki-kun. Besides, I've been searching for it around the school already. I'm sure someone must have taken it or something." she tried to stop the brunette male from getting involved into her problem.

"Hmm. But why? If it's something that belongs to you, then it should be important enough for you to keep looking for it."

Nozomi looked away as she kept quiet. His words rang truth in her mind as she was in desperate need to find those charms as soon as she can. It was something that she made with all of her heart into them. Losing those charms was not acceptable. Her thoughts were interrupted when Chiaki continued his statement.

"Besides, I know you're the type that won't give up when you've set something on your mind~! So, let me help you out! I'm sure with two people, we can do an even more wider search around the school!" he grinned. Blinking twice at the male's enthusiasm to help her out, she laughed softly.

"Ahahaha, you're as reliable as you always been huh, Chiaki-kun?" If she had to be honest, she was glad to find Chiaki. Or more like, she was glad that he found her.

"So, what are we searching for?" Chiaki asked as he looked around the courtyard. Nozomi hesitated for a while before she finally answered his question.

"It's...my handmade charms."

"WHAT?! Your handmade charms?!" Chiaki had a look of a major surprise on his face before it turned serious.

"Toujou, if it was that important, you should have asked for someone's help earlier." Chiaki gave her a bit of a disapprove look before he shook his head and gave her one of his usual smile. "But that matters no more! I'm here to help you find those charms! You can leave it to me~!"

Surprised by his sudden change of behaviour, Nozomi let out a soft giggle.

"Enthusiastic as usual aren't you, Chiaki-kun?"

"You know me!" Chiaki said with a little hint of pride in his tone as he crossed his arms, looking a bit proud. Shaking her head, she knew it was too late to decline his help at that moment.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure at this point if we can find them...but I guess I'll try to think positive for a while. Right~?"

"Exactly! That's the Toujou I knew! Hahahahaha~!" he laughed before he began searching for the charms around the courtyard. He was so into the search that he was basically leaping from one spot to another, again and again. Somehow, it almost looked like he was the one searching for something that he lost.

Nozomi giggled at the brunette's action. His positive and energetic attitude lifted up her depression as she began her search once again.

* * *

It has been almost an hour since they started searching and they still haven't found a single charm that she lost. The sky had turned dark and all students should have been at their homes by now. With the exception of the two students creeping around at the garden space. Letting out a long sigh, Nozomi could feel the depression feeling slowly coming back to her. That was until, Chiaki snapped her out of her world.

"Don't look so sad, Toujou!" his words surprised her but what really surprised her was the fact that the brunette's hands were placed on both of her shoulders as he peered closer to her face. "It's still too early to give up! I know it must be somewhere around here!"

"And how do you know it's here? Don't tell me, are you a psychic~?"

"My instinct!" he said it proudly. At that point, Nozomi lost all of the mood to make any more jokes as she let out another sigh.

"I appreciate you saying all of those to cheer me up, Chiaki-kun. But somehow, I don't think it's here anymore..." she cast her gaze somewhere else as Chiaki released his hold on her and crossed his arms.

"Precisely! Instead of looking at the spots you thought you dropped it, we should find who took it! I had a feeling that the charms were moved from the spot you dropped them! For example, maybe an animal took it!" Nozomi wasn't sure if the brunette was sane anymore. She could understand if it was a person, but why an animal?

"I doubt an animal knew what they could do with charms, Chiaki-kun."

"But you can never know, Toujou! Take that cat as an example!" he pointed to a cat passing by recently as both of them watched the small animal stopped from its' tracks as it watched them as well. Silence surrounded the atmosphere as both Nozomi and Chiaki had a blank stare on their face when they saw something familiar that was hanging at the cat's mouth.

"AH!" both of them pointed at the cat as they finally found one of the charms that they were searching for. Unfortunately, their shout surprised the cat as it ran away from the two human.

"It's one of my charm!"

"It really was the cat!"

"Quick! Chase it!" Nozomi ran after the small animal as she put all of her leftover energy in running. After searching for almost forever, she finally found one of them and she most definitely won't let it out of her sight.

"Come back here!" Nozomi called out to the cat as she almost reached the small animal. Just when she almost touched the cat, it suddenly turned a sharp corner as it went through a nearby bushes. Nozomi would have jumped in and continue chasing the cat if it wasn't for her lack of energy. Her legs gave out as she slid down to the ground, landing on her bottom while she tried to catch her breath from all the running she did.

"Toujou! Did you caught it?!" Chiaki finally caught up to her. Nozomi could only mustered enough strength to point towards the bushes that the cat went in. The brunette nodded his head as he pet the purple-haired female's head.

"You did well! Now, leave the rest to me!" he praised her before jumping through the bushes as it was his turn to chase after the cat.

"Hold it there, you frisky little feline! Give that back to whom it belongs to!" she could hear the male struggling as soon as he went through the bushes. His voice was growing distant as Nozomi thought that they were getting farther away. When she finally caught her breath once again, she went after the two.

"Chiaki-kun? Where are you?" she called out but she received no reply. Worried over the brunette's situation, she went further in as she called him out once again, "Chiaki-kun? Are you okay?"

"Over here, Toujou." finally receiving a reply, Nozomi made her way towards the source of the voice until she finally reached the spot where Chiaki was sitting down on the grass. She could see fresh scratches on his arms and his cheek. However, his smile were telling that he was fine despite his current condition.

"Chiaki-kun! Are you okay?" she rushed over to the brunette as she examined the scratches on him.

"Hahaha~! I'm fine, I'm fine! More importantly," he waved her worries off as he reached something beside him and handed it in front of her. It was a light blue-coloured charm that Nozomi made for Eli. Looking back at the male, he gave her a grin. "I finally got it off from the cat~!"

Slowly taking the charm from him, she took a good look at it before she held it close to her chest. She was glad that one of them finally returned back to her. In a good condition no less.

"Thank goodness..."

"That's not all, Toujou. Look over there." Chiaki pointed over at the previous cat as it sat far away from them both. Nozomi looked over at the cat and once she had a good look at it, she saw several kittens beside the cat as they played with her other charms. Slowly walking over to the kittens, she saw 7 other charms that made for the other members of μ's.

"Those are all the charms I've made...!"

"Looks like the mother thinks those charms are for her kittens' plaything." Chiaki explained as he looked over as well. The cat was watching them cautiously especially the purple-haired female as she went closer to the kittens and knelt down in front of them. Slowly reaching out to the kittens, she gently pet each of their head before she stroked their tiny bodies.

"Huh, really... I went through all the trouble of searching the whole school only to find out that it was taken by a cat. Fate is surely messing with me..." one of the kittens went towards her as it brushed its' head at her knee in a friendly manner. Picking it up, she laid it down on her lap before she resumed stroking its' body.

"Hahahaha~! But I think fate was just trying to tell you that you only had to ask for help." Chiaki knelt beside her as he pet the other kittens as well.

"I...guess so." she let out a soft giggle as she looked over at the male and smiled. "Thank you, Chiaki-kun."

Nozomi could see the brunette's face flushing red before he laughed it out to cover his embarrassed look.

"Nah, don't sweat it! I'm only doing what I think is righteous! After all, I am RYUSEI Red! The hero that everyone can depend on!" he grinned. Nozomi couldn't help but let out a giggle. "But really. I'm really grateful that you called out to me. If you didn't, I would have been moping around at home without these charms with me by now."

"Hahaha, well I did called you out because- AH!" his sudden shout surprised the kittens and the cat as they ran away from the two humans, creating a distance between them.

"W-What's wrong?" even Nozomi was taken by surprised when he suddenly shouted. Chiaki could only scratched the back of his neck before he apologized with a clumsy smile on his face.

"Sorry about that. It's just that, I just remembered why I called out to you in the first place." he patted his pockets and checked inside his blazer's pocket as if he was trying to search for something. Reaching into a pocket in his blazer, he finally took out something and held it in front of her, surprising the purple-haired female as she gazed at a familiar purple-coloured charm that she made way long before she made the other charms for μ's.

"This is yours right?" he asked.

"But... I thought it was with me the whole time-" she reached out to the pocket she always placed her own charm inside only to realize that it was really gone. Looking back at the charm in front of her, it was no doubt that the purple-coloured charm was hers. Taking it off from the male's hand, she held it tightly in her hands.

"How did I ended up losing this one too?"

"Well, when our last class ended, you were rushing out and I noticed this charm was on the floor at your desk. I thought I might as well keep it in case I bumped into you. And, you know how it goes from there!" he explained.

"Hm~ It's no wonder that I felt as if my luck was abandoning me. Turns out that it was with you the whole time. Doesn't that sound like you are my own walking charm, Chiaki-kun~?" she asked, her playful nature coming back to her. Her mood suddenly lifted up now that she finally got all of her charms safely back to her.

"Hahahaha~! I still think it's fate's work that things took into this turn." he said with a cheeky smile adorning his face. His smile made the purple-haired female smiled as she watched all of the charms at the ground as well as the ones in her hands.

"Hm, can't disagree with you there. After all, fate has a twisted way of messing with people."

* * *

 **Oh my god. I've been away for too long. Not really. My writer's block was bugging me that I ended up stopped writing. Hahahaha~! I'm really sorry for holding up for too long! (T^T) Anyway, there you have it. Nozomi with her chosen pair! I seriously found this pair interesting because of certain 'similarities' these two have. What are the similarities? I won't tell but it will be shown in another one-shots between these two~!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	22. A So-Called Date? (Nico)

**Sometimes, we just don't have enough time to enjoy our own privacy. Am I right~? Okay, before you dived in, I just want to say this. I'm SO sorry for taking so long to update this chapter. You have no idea how "Writer's Block" was killing me. I had been changing a lot of main topic for this chapter, alone. FOR SEVERAL TIMES. In the end, my roommate gave me such a simple idea that without realizing, I started typing this note here. Anyway, I'm not going to hold you guys up here for too long so, yeah~ Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 22: A So-Called Date? (Nico)

It was a lazy afternoon Sunday and as usual, Nico decided to hang out at a nearby cafe. The smell of brewed coffee spread around the room as Nico entered the cafe. Taking in the heavy yet relaxing smell into her nose, Nico let out a sigh of content. She went straight to a two-seat table, the spot where she would usually sat and placed her bag down at her chair.

Taking in her surrounding, she was glad that the cafe was not full of people. There were several people either enjoying their coffee or just hanging out with their friends as they chat with each other. Nico on the other hand, waited on her table as she stared at the entrance, waiting for a certain someone to arrive.

"Good afternoon, young lady." a soft voice spoke up beside her, surprising the petite female from her own thoughts. Looking up, she saw a familiar young man, a little bit older than her with short light brown hair, smiling at her.

"Oh, Akito-san! Good afternoon~" she greeted the young man that goes by the name Akito, as she gave him a big smile.

"It's a pleasure to see you here again, Nico-chan. I was worried that we might not see you this week." he said, the smile never left his face.

"Aww, you were worried about me? That's so nice of you~"

"How can I not? You are after all, one of our most frequent customers. A cute one to add in." Akito smiled and Nico couldn't help but squealed mentally when she heard the compliment. Despite the need to brag about herself, she decided to lay down low for today and play it cool.

"Aha, trying to get me in a good mood huh? Hm, well, good news. You did~" Nico grinned.

"Well, I'm glad it worked." Akito nodded his head, letting out a soft chuckle and Nico couldn't help but blush. She won't deny that the young man was attractive. Plus, he would always play along with her behaviour. It made her more confident with herself. If only he wasn't engaged, Nico would probably be all over him by now. Of course, even if he wasn't engaged, Nico would still stick to a certain someone she had known for a long time ago.

"Well then, are you ready to have your order taken?"

"Nope, not yet. I'll call you out when I'm ready. Meanwhile, I'll just wait here until my 'date' arrives~" Nico smirked when she saw the surprised look from the young man but he recovered fast by replacing it with a small grin.

"Oh? It seems Nico-chan has finally gotten herself a boyfriend." he said, with a hint of a teasing tone. Nico immediately blushed once the word left the young man's mouth.

"Wha-!? N-No, it's not like that!" right before she could come up with an excuse, Akito held his hand in front of Nico's face, the smile still remained on his face.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me~" he puts his index finger in front of his lips, winking at her in a knowing manner. He bowed down and excused himself while Nico stared disbelievingly at the young man. Once he was far away from her table, Nico let out a sigh as she look over at the entrance of the cafe while thinking over what they had just conversed.

Although she said it was a date, it really wasn't. She may have tricked her 'date' into coming to the cafe to do a 'study discussion'. All for the purpose of getting him to go out with her. Suddenly the word 'boyfriend' kept replaying in her head like a broken record, causing the petite female to frown.

"It would be nice if it was true..." she mumbled out, glancing at the entrance. When a familiar blond hair entered the cafe, Nico's eyes lit up and she immediately stood up from her seat and waved at the newcomer.

"Nazuna-kun~!" she waved her arm, catching the attention of the said person as well as the other customers in the cafe. The blond male, Nazuna was covering his face from the gazes of others as he made his way to the petite female. Once he stood near her, he frowned.

"Nico-chin, you didn't have to call me out that loud..." he placed both of his hands on his hips, indicating that he was not pleased by her actions. Even so, Nico knew he wasn't mad.

"Aww, I'm sorry~ I was just excited to see you. After all, it's been a while since I last got to spend some time with you~" Nico leaned closer to the blond male, smiling and looking at him with twinkling eyes as she blinked a few times.

"I thought you called me out here for a discussion?" he asked with a confused expression. That was the moment where Nico's sweet smile faltered and she cast her gaze away from him.

"T-That's true...but hey! Since you just arrived here, how about we ordered our drinks first? You must be thirsty after coming such a loooooooong way from here~" Nico tried to change the topic, giving him the biggest grin she could muster, only to receive a skeptical look from him in response.

"Nico-chin, it's just a 5 minute walk from my house. Plus, our house are literally next to each other." Nico froze on her spot, as if time had stop. Nazuna on the other hand, let out a sigh as he looked around the cafe, examining the whole place.

"Anyway, I still don't understand why you'd invite me here when we can just discuss our homework at either of our house?"

"Uhh..." Nico was left speechless. She knew very well that Nazuna was a bit dense when it comes to get him to play along with her. However, she wasn't expecting to receive a blunt and direct response from him.

"W-Well, you know how much my siblings likes to play with you whenever you came to our house. Plus, it's hard to have a discussion when they would always bother you all the time. So, that was out of the option. And going to your house was never an option in the first place!" Nico finally came up with a good comeback. Her eyes lit up as she felt as if she could turn the tables over.

"What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that?! What would people say when they saw me, the gorgeous and innocent Yazawa Nico, going to a house together with a young man? No! That is unacceptable! My image would be ruined! Unless if we're out here, pretending we're just 'hanging' out like normal friends~"

"My parents would be there too, you know? And you can always come and hang out at my house anytime." Nazuna said, blatantly. Nico could finally hear her patience snapped.

"Aww, come on~ Can't you just play along with me? I just wanted to hang out with you! Just us two, and no one else~!" Nico wailed as she laid her upper body on the table, sulking at the blond male's blunt response to her approach. Nazuna on the other hand, let out a long sigh. "I knew it..."

"There was never a discussion to do in the first place was it?" he asked and Nico weakly nodded her head. Her energy and enthusiasm had left her body completely, leaving her in a gloomy state. She thought that she could somehow get to persuade him into the mood but in the end, nothing happened. She could hear him sighing before the sound of the chair in front of her moved.

"Oh, alright. Looks like I have no choice but to stay here for a while." Looking up, she saw him, who had sat down across her seat, smiling at her. Almost immediately, Nico's gloomy state disappeared and was replaced with her usual chirpy self.

"Really~?" she leaned closer to the blond male, causing the later to backed away from bumping their heads.

"Well, I did came all the way from home. It'll be a waste if I just left now, wouldn't it?"

"Right..." The answer was obvious. What did she expect?

Once they settled down, they ordered their drinks. Although their current situation was no more than just hanging out, Nico was content with it. She was satisfied. They chatted, they joked around, they laughed. It seemed perfectly normal and yet, it was enjoyable. It was as close as she could assumed to be like a real 'date'. Unfortunately, every perfect moments always comes to an end.

It was getting late since they spend a lot of time in the cafe talking about everything. They left the cafe and walked home together. Thinking about today's event caused her to unconsciously let out a sigh.

"Nico-chin?" Nazuna's voice snapped the petite female from her own world as she looked up and turned to the side to face him. He had a worried expression all over his face. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking a lot of things." Nico quickly recovered herself by smiling. However, Nazuna still had the same worried expression, now with a doubtful look on his face before he let out a sigh.

"It's fine, Nazuna-kun. It's not really a big deal." His action had cause the petite female to act, assuring the blond male from getting worried. Nazuna glanced at her before looking at the front as they walked in silence. That was until, he broke the silence by speaking up.

"Nico-chin, you know you can count on me if you have any problems right?" he said. The petite female was taken by surprise his sudden statement. The blond male smiled at her and held one of her hands and gave it a small squeeze, causing the petite female to blush at the sudden contact.

"Besides, didn't we made a promise long time ago, when we were kids? That we would always look out for each other, and take care of each other. Remember?" he turned to the side, the smile never left his face. Nico on the other hand, was surprised to find that the blond male still remembered their promise. She could feel her face slowly burning up as seconds passed by.

"Nazuna-kun..."

"That's why, if you need help, I'll always be there to lend a hand." he said as he avert his gaze and look ahead. "And if you ever find yourself in trouble, I'll protect you."

Nico felt her heart stopped beating as she held her breath. Although it was nothing more than just an old promise they made, it still had a special feeling for her. After all, she held that promise very close to her heart. It was one of the reason why she would occasionally stick close to the male whether they were at school or outside of it. She wasn't acting clingy for no reason. It was because he was very dear to her. Even now.

Nico realized that she had been staring at him for a long time. She smiled, quickly recovered herself from getting all embarrassed and nervous as she began acting herself again.

"Aww, Nazuna-kun~" she hugged the blond male, giving him a light squeeze. Her actions had made the blond male flustered, given by his actions. "You say the sweetest things sometimes! If you keep doing that, I might end up falling for you~!"

"H-Hey, Nico-chin! People are going to see! And don't say things like that!" Nazuna tried to pry the petite female off from him but Nico's grip on him was strong.

"Hehe~ It's your fault from saying all those things. It's just so adorable~ It makes you looked ten times cuter~!" she grinned when she looked up to face him

"Don't call me that!"

"But you are~! Cutie Nazuna-kun~" she puts her tongue out, teasingly. She knew the red colour as well as the annoyed expression that was slowly surfacing on his face was a signal for her to run away from him. Nico immediately released the blond male before she skipped away with a grin on her face, leaving the later behind as he burst out in anger.

"NICO-CHIN~!"

* * *

 **Huhuhu, I wonder how things will go out for these two? So exciting~! So, yeah. That's it~! The last chapter of the couple one shot for now. No worries, there will still be couple one shots later on in the story but for now, it is finished. Hahaha~! Before I forgot, let me take the chance here to apologize once again for taking too long to update the newest chapter. (Blame writer's block, it's killing me...) So, yeah~! The next couple of stories might be a little fun moments between the class once again. What will it be? Can't tell~ (** **ﾉ≧∀≦** **)** **ﾉ**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	23. Sub-Producers

**Since we're done with pairing chapter for now, it's finally time to shed some light on a certain moment that I have been meaning to do. Excited? Good! No? Well, I bet you clicked this chapter because of the title for it itself. Besides, you're still going to read it anyway if you're reading this. Hahahaha~! Anyway, let's get on to the story shall we? Have fun~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 23: Sub-Producers

It gave her a headache when she was looking at all the files on the Guidance Councilor's desk, which the man himself was currently examining, one by one. Akiomi's eyes scanned the files, silence filling around them. Being the only known producer in the whole school, showed Anzu how big the responsibility she has on her shoulder. Even when she had told herself it was for the idols' sakes, she knew very well that the fatigue will eventually take a toll on her.

"It seems everything is in order. Good work, Anzu-san." Akiomi placed the last papers into it's respective file before putting it away.

"Thank you, Kunugi-sensei. I'm glad that I managed to give you the complete files this time." she said, with a smile on her face. Akiomi nodded his head before he leaned back on his seat.

"Yes, I agree. I still remembered how flustered you were when you gave the incomplete files to me before." he said, his stern face remained, causing the brunette female to laugh sheepishly.

"Ahaha..."

How could she ever forget? It was a last minute work when she was still just a beginner. She could still remembered the frown on the Guidance Councilor's face when he looked at the incomplete files. Anzu shook the thoughts away, thinking it was best to forget about past events.

"Speaking of which, what do you think so far, as a producer for these idols?" Akiomi suddenly asked. Anzu was caught off guard by the question as she wondered how she felt. Slowly, a smile made it's way to her face before she replied to the man.

"Well, it was tough at first. But, I'm slowly getting used to it." the smile never left her face while Akiomi stared at her, as if he was judging her. That was until, he scoffed as he leaned back on his chair.

"Is that so? Well, personally, I think you have a lot you need to improve regarding your role as a producer."

Should have known, she thought. Her smile faltered upon hearing the comment. Just a little.

"Come on, Kunugi-sensei. Cut her some slack." a new yet familiar voice spoke up from behind. Turning around, her eyes landed on a familiar man wearing an all-familiar lab coat as she recognized the man as her own homeroom teacher.

"Sagami-sensei..." the man smiled at her in return before he cast his gaze on the man at his desk.

"So far, I think she did a tremendous job as a producer. And at the same time, she managed to keep up with her studies as well. You and I both know how heavy it is being a producer. I think she deserved a bit more of a compliment, don't you think?" Jin's comment had made Akiomi silent as he processed the sentences. Crossing his arms, he spun his chair to face his working desk, avoiding eye contact from the duo.

"Unlike you, I don't tolerate lazy work." he said. After several seconds of silence between them, he finally turned around faced them. "But you do have a point."

Anzu was shocked. It was rare enough for her to hear the Guidance Councilor complimenting his students. Even more when he admits it. Anzu could literally feel her happiness rising up in her as her smile made its' way to her face. Akiomi noticed the smile and he quickly gave her his famous stern look.

"I'm not saying that you did an amazing job. Don't get it all over your head." he quickly added in, his stern face remained before he lets out a sigh. "But you certainly reached my expectations as a producer. Make sure to keep it up."

"Kunugi-sensei..." the brunette female nodded her head, smiling at him. She was even more motivated than before. As if all of the burden feeling was lighter than she felt before. "Yes! I'll do my best!"

"Hahaha, looks like someone's back to her usual self again." Jin petted the young girl's head, earning a warm smile from her in return.

"Although, I hoped you don't overwork yourself, okay?" he looked serious despite the smile still remained on his face.

"If you ever need a help with your job, do tell me. Or even Kunugi-sensei here." he gestured to the man on the chair. As if on cue, Akiomi crossed his arms as a response.

"Hmph, only IF the problem is too big to handle." he pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose.

"Speaking of which, do you have any problem as of we speak now? Or maybe some new suggestions for the idols and their activities?" the Guidance Councilor asked, facing the brunette female as he directed the question to her.

Anzu opened her mouth before closing it and cast her gaze away, hesitating. She had something in mind but she wondered if she should actually suggested it. Her action had caused both the teachers to look at her with a questioning look. The silence surrounding them broke down when Anzu finally speak up.

"Actually, there is one thing..."

* * *

"Anzu..." Hokuto had only spoken his first sentence but Anzu already had the gist of what he was trying to say.

"Yes...?"

"I know that you're just doing your job as a producer but..." Hokuto's eyes drifted over to two familiar student in front of him as both of those two were jumping in joy as they spun around, locking arms with each other. While the duo were busy minding their own business, the remaining Trickstar members, including Anzu looked at them with a troubled expression.

"...why must you picked 'her' for our group?" as if on cue, the previous mentioned duo accidentally let go of each other as they fell on the floor, earning a loud THUD in the room.

"Uwahh! Honoka-chan! Are you okay!?" Subaru, who was playing around together with Honoka earlier, apologized to the female frantically.

"Ehehe, I'm fine, I'm fine~" the ginger-haired female waved off the male's worries as she stood up, dusting off the invisible dust on her skirt and acted as if nothing happened. Not soon after that, the two of them continued back their previous antics, earning a disapproval look from everyone in Trickstar.

"Oh, for the love of god..." Mao muttered as he watched the duo in front of him.

"Well, at least we got someone who can entertained Akehoshi-kun. Right?" Makoto directed his question to his unit's leader. Hokuto let out a sigh, his frustration could be seen visibly.

She knew it was going to be quite a handful for Hokuto if she were to put Honoka as Trickstar's 2nd producer, or what she called it as a 'Sub-Producer'. It was an idea that she had at the back of her mind for a long time, thinking when was the right time for her to introduce the idea to Akiomi. Now that she had a greenlight from the Guidance Councilor, she wasted no time choosing the girls from μ's acting as certain unit's sub-producer. In Trickstar's situation, she chose Kousaka Honoka.

"I'm sorry about this, Hokuto-kun.." Anzu gaze him an apologized look. Not long after that, she smiled at him. "But you know, among the girls in μ's, I think Honoka-chan is more suitable with Trickstar."

It was a vague explanation. However, seeing those two together in their own world, it was safe to say that they could feel a certain positive energy and vibe emitting from them.

"Well, I guess you have a point." Mao was the first one to spoke up, cracking a smile. It was surprising to hear the violet-haired male to agree with it. Mao noticed the surprised look on Hokuto and Makoto before he took it upon himself to explain the reason.

"Honoka tends to bring up the mood in the class, even if she didn't mean to. You could say her positive energy can be very influential even to those who are hot-headed like Koga, and even Ritsu, himself. She may not look like it, but she can be very responsible at certain times too." he said. However, the smile immediately faded away. "But even so, that doesn't change the fact that she's a total klutz."

"I heard that!" Honoka exclaimed. All of the sudden, Mao was pounced from behind as the ginger-haired female sulked. "How mean! It's not like I'm 100% a klutz, you know!?"

"The fact that you just pounced on me proves the fact even more!" Mao retorted back, immediately silenced the ginger-haired female as she pouted. Makoto laughed at them while Anzu had to stifle a giggle.

"At least Honoka-chan is still bearable than Akehoshi-kun~" as soon as those words left Makoto's mouth, he was the next one to be pounced from behind by Subaru himself.

"Ukki~! How could you! I thought you and I were partners! How can you sell me short from Honoka-chan!?" Subaru sulked. While the bespectacled male had to calm down his orange-haired male, Anzu and Hokuto could only look around as everyone were minding their own business.

"What a headache..." Hokuto messaged his temples, glancing away from the sight of all of his unit members distracted from what they were discussing. However, Anzu's soft chuckle caught the black-haired male's attention back.

"But you can't deny that it feels nice right? Seeing your friends' smile as they joked around and spending time together?" she asked.

Hokuto cast his gaze back to everyone in the room. Anzu was right. Although they were arguing and sulking previously, now they had the brightest smile on their faces as if nothing bad had took place. The sight unconsciously made the male smiled.

"Well, I guess this is fine." Hokuto finally agreed, causing the brunette female to smile and nodded her head.

* * *

"So, Kunugi-sensei himself agreed to this arrangement, did he?" Keito asked, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, he did. I hope it doesn't cause you any problem?" Anzu asked.

"No, not at all. If this is under Kunugi-sensei's approval, then I have no problem with this arrangement. Besides," Keito glanced over to a blue-haired female beside Anzu. Umi stood there, silent and waiting for the leader of Akatsuki to say something. "I'm actually quite glad that you would be Akatsuki's sub-producer, Sonoda."

His comment caused the blue-haired female to blush as she smiled. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by Anzu as she giggled.

"Well, Umi-chan is pretty well-termed with traditional Japanese. That's why I think, she would fit better in Akatsuki. Plus, I bet she could help out if you need ideas or suggestions." Anzu explained while Keito slowly nodded his head, agreeing with what the brunette female was saying.

"That makes sense. Anyhow, I hope you will hold up to my expectations, Sonoda. Even if you are just a sub-producer."

"I'll be in your care, Hasumi-senpai." Umi smiled as she bowed down. Turning over to the other two members of Akatsuki, she bowed down once again. "And of course, the same goes to you, Kanzaki-san, Kiryu-senpai."

Souma and Kuro nodded their heads, as a sign of approval.

"Yes, it is an honour to have you to be Akatsuki's sub-producer, Sonoda-dono. Perhaps this may also be a good chance to have a duel with you at any time." Souma said, his eyes were twinkling. Umi let out a giggle while the others could only let out a sigh as they shook their heads. Souma had always admired Umi ever since they met. The fact that their families knew each other for a long time, proved that he had always admired the Sonoda family and thought of them as his rival.

"Kanzaki, she's here to take care of our unit's activities, not as your sparring partner." Kuro stated, crossing his arms as he looked over to the young samurai. Souma's bright face immediately faltered as he apologized, realizing that he was being selfish.

"No, it's fine. I would gladly accept your challenge whenever you want to. I just hoped it's not during the school period." Umi said, her smile still remained on her face as she looked at him.

"Sonoda-dono..." the smile on Souma's face slowly resurfaced as he nodded his head. "Yes, I'll gladly wait for the right time to do so!"

Anzu could only smile, happy to see that Umi mixed well with Akatsuki. She knew that it was the right decision to choose the blue-haired female for this particular unit. Hopefully the other units will also get along with their newest sub-producer that she chose.

* * *

"Ayase-senpai~!" the moment Anzu and Eli entered the Garden Terrace, a temporary meeting room for [fine] as they were greeted by Tori, making his way towards the duo and jumped into Eli's embrace, surprising the blond female as she quickly caught the pink-haired male.

"Geez, you surprised me, Tori-chan." she let down the small boy, petting his head afterward.

"Hehe, I'm just happy to see you~" looking over beside Eli, Tori smile even brighter. "And you too, Anzu~"

"Oh! If it isn't Anzu-san and Eli-san! What a pleasure to see you~!" Hibiki appeared behind Tori, surprising everyone in the area, especially Tori as he basically jumped from the sudden statement and hid behind Anzu, glaring at the male.

"You really don't know how to greet people normally do you!?" Tori shouted, glaring hard at the eccentric male in front of him. The only response he got from the light blue-haired male was only his laugh, earning an even more heated glare from the pink-haired male.

"Now, now, everyone." a new voice spoke up, catching the attention of everyone as they looked over at the owner of the voice, which belonged to Tenshouin Eichi himself, sitting on one of the chairs as he sipped his tea that was recently brewed by Yuzuru. "I think it's best if we don't take our guest's time for too long."

"Please, have a seat." this time, it was Yuzuru who spoke up as he bowed down to the recent newcomer. "I have prepared tea for everyone, including for our guests. It would be best if we drink first before it cools down."

"Thank you, Yuzuru-kun. But I think Anzu here is in a rush to meet with the other units." Eli explained and Anzu nodded her head as she cast the blue-haired male an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry about this, Yuzuru-kun." Anzu apologized but Yuzuru immediately waved off her worries.

"I see, that is too bad." Eichi said, putting down his tea cup away. "If that's the case, I think you can leave Eli-san here while you go and settle the other units."

Eichi's statement had caused both Anzu and Eli confused, as well as surprised. The blond male took notice of the two female's confused look before he explained.

"I know the gist of these 'sub-producer' that you wanted to talk about, Anzu-chan." the blond male said, taking a small sip of his tea.

"Huh? What's a 'sub-producer', president?" Tori asked.

"Ah, I assumed these 'sub-producers' are what we called as a temporary producer. Am I correct?" Wataru thought out loud. Somehow the moment the words left his mouth, Tori immediately glared at him.

"I'm asking the president, not you!"

Once again, the only reply Tori got from the eccentric male was only the sound of his laughter, resounding throughout the area as Yuzuru tried to calm his young master from chasing the eccentric male. The scene was amusing in the eyes of Anzu, Eli and Eichi as they let out a chuckle.

"Anyway," Eichi brought back the two females' attention to him. "What I'm trying to say is, you can leave all the explanations and discussions to me, Anzu-chan. To be honest, I don't think there was a need for a long explanation in the first place other than just telling her what her job will be as a sub-producer, am I correct?"

Anzu was speechless but nodded her head nonetheless. Glancing to the side, she could see the blond female smiling at her.

"It's okay, Anzu. I think Eichi-kun has a point about this meeting. Rather than staying here any longer, why not go settle the other unit's meeting discussions?" she suggested and Anzu nodded her head, smiling at her.

"Yes, I will. Thank you, Eli-senpai." the brunette bowed down while the blond female gave her a knowing wink.

" _Harasho_ ~"

* * *

"Are you serious!?" both Hinata and Yuta exclaimed in unison. The moment they heard that their sub-producer for 2wink was Hoshizora Rin, the two of them had the brightest smile on their face all the time, especially the oldest twin.

"I'll be in your care-nyaa!" Rin chirped, waving both of her hands at the Aoi twins in front of her.

"Alright~! We've got Rin-chan for our unit!" Hinata jumped in joy as he locked arms with Rin, jumping together happily, like a little child.

"I take it that both of you are fine with this decision?" Anzu asked, directing her question to the youngest twin. Yuta nodded his head with a smile before casting his gaze at his older twin.

"I'm actually quite worried since my brother tends to play around rather than focusing on our unit activities. But since it's Rin-chan, at least I could trust on her to handle him at times." he grinned at the brunette.

Glancing over at the duo, both Anzu and Yuta found out that Hinata and Rin were already distracted by playing video games without even sparing a look at the other two as they laughed and joked around. The sight caused the former pair to look at them with a troubled look.

"Are you sure...?" she asked and the only answer she received from the youngest twin was a long sigh.

* * *

"What? It's you...?" Koga muttered as he faced a certain familiar red-haired female standing beside Anzu. Maki rolled her eyes as she played with some strands of her hair.

"I'm just going along with what Anzu-senpai decides." she said as a matter-of-factly, only to receive an annoying glare from the grey-haired male from her blunt response.

"To think that my daughter was chosen to be UNDEAD's sub-producer. Kukuku, interesting." Rei chuckled, before facing her. "I'll be counting on you from now on, Maki-chan."

"D-Don't get me wrong. I'm doing this because Anzu-senpai asked me to." she cast her gaze away, acting as if it wasn't a big deal although the red blush spreading on her face was telling otherwise. Her reaction had caused Anzu to giggle, earning an embarrassed glare from her.

Anzu knew deep down that Maki was the right choice for UNDEAD as she knew both Rei and Koga were very close to the red-haired female, given that she was in the same club as the two males. Plus, when the three of them combined together, they could work together to come up with a new music composition for the unit's new songs. Other than that, she knew very well that Maki has the same style and charm as UNDEAD as a whole. However, there was a certain problem regarding Maki's position in UNDEAD.

"As expected of Anzu-chan~" Kaoru cheered. The moment she heard his voice, she tensed and she knew that even the red-haired female had the same reaction as her. Looking over to the owner of the voice, she could see how happy Kaoru had been, the moment she announced the appointment of sub-producers for idol units.

"You sure know how to make unit activities even more lively. At this rate, I could do unit activities forever~" he said as he walked over to Maki. Leaning closer, he smiled at her. "I'll be counting on you, Maki-chan~"

When the flirt tried to place his arm around Maki's shoulder, she quickly slipped away and went hiding behind Rei, surprising the older male before he let out a chuckle from witnessing such behaviour from her. Kaoru, on the other hand, was surprised by her action but quickly recovered as he tried to approach the red-haired female once again.

"Now, now. I'm not going to bite you or anything, I just want you to know that I'm really glad to have someone like you in our group." once he got closer, he tried to place his arm on her again but Maki quickly avoided him and hid behind Koga next while glaring at the flirt..

"Hmm, why do you keep on running away?" Kaoru had a hurt look on his face before he quickly smirked. "Ah, maybe you're just embarrassed to talk with me~?"

"As if! Try to read the goddamn message she's trying to convey! Are you that dense!?" Koga barked, annoyed by Kaoru's flirty nature. Kaoru was not amused by the way the grey-haired male was talking to him but he quickly ignored him as he tried to approach her again. Seeing how Kaoru won't stop bothering the red-haired female, Anzu decided to speak up.

"Kaoru-san, I'm appointing her as UNDEAD's sub-producer so that she could help out with your unit activities, not as someone that has to entertain you." Anzu scolded the flirt, surprising everyone in the room. The silence was awkward until Kaoru himself broke it.

"But Anzu-chan, I never had that kind of thought about Maki-chan. I just want to get along with her like a normal partner between sub-producer and as a member of a unit." he said with a hint of a sulking tone. Glancing over at the red-haired female, he gave her a normal smile. "What do you think, Maki-chan? Do you think we can get along?"

Everyone's attention quickly directed to the mentioned female. After keeping her mouth shut ever since the flirt tried to get closer to her, she was finally presented with a chance to speak up. Maki finally came out from her hiding spot behind Koga.

"W-Well, if it's just a normal relationship like partnership, then it's fine." once she said that, she immediately added in, with a stern tone. "However, no physical contact! Even if it's just a little hug or just a pet on the head!"

"Eh~? But I was just about to celebrate our newform relationship." Kaoru managed to slip through Koga's defense as he leaned closer to the female.

"No!" Maki ran away and hid behind Adonis this time. After witnessing the event in front of him, Adonis decided to protect the female from the flirt as he spread an arm in front of her, to prevent the male from approaching any further.

"I'm sorry, Hakaze-senpai. But I think the girl is uncomfortable with your approach. So, I took it upon myself to protect her from you. I hope you won't hold it against me."

"Good job, Adonis!" Koga gave the purple-haired male a thumbs up while Rei could only shook his head as he watched the whole event took place. Anzu, on the other hand, frowned at the scene where the flirt tried to get past Adonis to reach Maki, who still remained hiding behind him. At the very least, she could trust on both Koga and Adonis to take care of the red-haired female from Kaoru.

* * *

"I'll be in your care, Shu-senpai, Mika-kun~!" Kotori smiled, bowing down in front of them. It was undeniable that Kotori was beyond happy to be working with Valkyrie, especially since she was familiar with the members of the unit themselves.

"Hmph, why am I not surprised?" Shu said with his arms crossed, looking away.

"Isn't this a great news, Oshi-san? Kotori-chan will be workin' with Valkyrie!" Mika was equally as happy as Kotori at that moment.

To be honest, the idea of the 'sub-producer' came into Anzu's mind as it was based on Kotori's interactions with the members of the Handicraft Club. Anzu had witnessed several events where Kotori was helping either Mika or Shu during their club activities and the thought of Kotori working with Valkyrie came to her mind. It was at that moment, she also wondered how the other girls from μ's would be able to help the other units and how some of them matched each other.

"Hey, girl. I'm talking to you!" Shu's voice immediately snapped Anzu back to reality as she realized that Kotori, Mika and Shu's eyes were all on her.

"Y-Yes?" she asked, slightly timid than she intended to sound like. The leader of the unit let out a loud huff as he crossed his arms before he gave her a stern look.

"Basically, these sub-producer that you picked for each unit are helping us out with their activity, is that it?" he asked.

"Y-Yes. Along with collecting newest information as well as your unit's recent updates." Anzu replied while Shu let out a huff.

"Huh, 's that so? Well anyway, I'm just glad we got Kotori-chan~" Mika cheered once more, earning a smile from the grayish-brown haired female. Shu on the other hand, remained silent as he pondered about the situation.

"Hm, I must say, having her working for us would prove to be quite advantageous..." he mumbled. A smile made its' way to his face before he suddenly chuckled. "Yes, I see now." His sudden chuckle caught everyone's attention to the male as they look at him with a confusing look.

"Shu-senpai?" Kotori called out but was quickly cut off by him.

"You!" he pointed at Anzu, surprising everyone in the room, especially the brunette from his sudden exclamation.

"Y-Yes?"

"You, you are helping us out, are you not?" he asked, the smile never once faltered from his face. Anzu could only managed to nod her head as she eyed the index finger he was using to point at her.

"Hah! I must say, you are a genius! To actually hand us someone of Valkyrie's caliber, you are giving us a chance to overcome other units! Even that wretched Eichi's unit, [fine]! Excellent!" as Shu continues to talk to himself as he dived into his own world, the remaining people could only look at the pink-haired male with a worried expression.

"Should we be worried about this...?" Kotori asked the brunette beside her. Even Mika had a troubled expression on his face. Anzu could only mustered a sigh as her response to the question.

* * *

For the first time ever, Anzu felt as if she had make a big, BIG mistake. Behind her, Hanayo's grip on her school blazer became tighter and tighter once she stepped in the meeting place for Knights, especially when a familiar pair of eyes landed on her.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this a surprise~?" Izumi smirked as he glared at the petite brunette hiding behind Anzu. She could hear her yelped when the grey-haired male spoke up. Anzu mentally slapped herself for overlooking the 'tense' relationship between the petite brunette and Izumi. And she thought that she had finally found the right person to handle Knights.

Replacing Hanayo with Nozomi was a bad idea since the purple-haired female herself doesn't want to be in the same group as him. Especially when a certain rumour where these two would engaged in a deadly match was enough to alert Anzu to prevent such event from happening.

Letting out a sigh, she wondered if she should withdraw the petite brunette from Knights. That was until, a friendly voice snapped her out of her train of thoughts.

"Oh my, we get to have Hana-chan for Knights? Aww, that's so sweet of you, Anzu-chan." Arashi came forward and gently pried Hanayo's hand from Anzu's blazer as he squeezed her hand gently, smiling.

"I'm so happy to finally be able to spend more time with you. Rin-chan always talks about you, like, a lot~!" Arashi began to have a friendly conversation to help the petite brunette calmed down, but the fact that he was touching her hand only made her more flustered than before.

"I-I-I, uh...I, um-" her words were cut off when she saw a glare from Izumi when she accidentally made eye contact with him.

"Ekk!" she quickly hid behind Arashi, hiding faway rom the grey-haired male's line of sight. Arashi took notice of Izumi's glare before he proceed to scold the male.

Anzu could only let out a sigh as she realized that it might be too much for Hanayo to handle the pressure from Knights, especially from Izumi himself. As for the remaining members of the Knights, they weren't even trying to make a move to stop the argument between Izumi and Arashi as they remained silent. Tsukasa was observing the whole situation silently. Ritsu was taking a nap and would occasionally shifted his position while Leo, the Knights' leader, was exchanging a look between Izumi and Arashi, back and forth.

"Like I said, what good can she bring to our unit if she were to remain timid like that?" Izumi spat out, glaring over at the female behind Arashi. The blond male gave him a disapproving look for selling the petite brunette short just by judging her behaviour.

"Just because she is shy, doesn't mean that she can't be helpful for our unit!" he scolded but Izumi remained stubborn and refused to listen as he rolled his eyes and walked away, sitting at a nearby chair, glaring at Arashi with a disappointed look. He thought Arashi would understood his point but the fact that he disagreed with him, ticked him off.

"Now, now, Sena." a chirpy voice broke the tensed atmosphere as everyone looked over to the owner of the voice, Leo as he had a smile on his face. "I'm sure Anzu chose Hanayo as our sub-producer for a good reason~"

"And why would you think so, huh?" the grey-haired male asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because I trust Anzu~!" Leo admitted happily. His statement only received a glare from the grey-haired male but Leo wasn't even fazed by it as he looked over at Anzu. "So, why did you choose her as our sub-producer?"

The question was actually something that Anzu had hoped that everyone wouldn't asked. In the end, it was inevitable for her to avoid such question.

"Well, I think, Hanayo-chan has something that could make Knights more stand out, in my opinion." she said, earning a questioning looks from everyone, even Hanayo and Ritsu, who only opened one of his eyes.

"And what would that be?" Arashi asked, intrigued by her statement.

"I know this may sound weird but," Anzu's eyes drifted over at Hanayo, who had a worried expression as well as the same intrigued look that everyone else had. Taking a deep breath, she began explaining.

"Somehow, whenever I look at Hanayo-chan, I found that she is so pure and innocent. Something that we rarely see in people these days." Looking over at the petite brunette, who remained hiding behind Arashi, she gave her a smile, causing Hanayo to blush by both the comment and the smile.

"And it's because of that, I feel like there has to be someone out there that must protect such innocent and purehearted soul. And when I imagined Knights as a symbol of protection to such thing, I feel like I can see how Knights would be able to bring up their charm out." she explained, ending it with a smile.

The silence afterward only made the whole room awkward as everyone had the same surprised look directing to her. When no one even tried to break the silence or even spoke up, Anzu somehow felt as if she had just said something ridiculous. Even Tsukasa was speechless as he stared at her.

"What..." Leo's word drifted off as he stared at Anzu with a long stare.

"Y-You know, like a princess and her knights? Something like that...?" at this point, even Anzu herself was starting to doubt herself for suggesting such imagination.

"AHH!" Leo suddenly yelled out, surprising everyone. Just before Izumi could scold their leader, Leo stood up abruptly as he gripped his head.

"It's the inspirations! It's overflowing in my head right now!" he ran around the room, yelling out 'papers, papers' as he tried searching for the specific item, completely ignoring everyone else as he began his search.

"As expected of Onee-sama, you really have a great insight. Marvelous~" Tsukasa nodded his head.

"I never thought of that~ I am honestly amazed, Anzu-chan~!" Arashi complimented the brunette female, smiling brightly at her.

"Hmm, 'protecting' huh? Not a bad idea..." Ritsu mumbled by himself before she went back to his nap with a smile on his face.

Seeing all the positive response to Anzu's explanation, Hanayo felt as if she was moved by the brunette's words and opinion about her. Coming out from her hiding spot behind Arashi, she stood beside Anzu and faced everyone in the room, looking flustered and nervous as ever. Even so, she forced herself to speak up.

"U-Um, I-I would like to tell something." her statement had caught everyone's attention to her, with the exception of Leo, who remained scribbling something on the paper without even taking notice of his surrounding. Despite his ignorance, Hanayo proceeded with her talk.

"I-I would like to say first, that, I-I may not be as skillful as anyone from of μ's. I'm not good at making costumes like Kotori-chan, writing lyrics like Umi-chan. Or even make music like Maki-chan as well. B-But still, I just wanted to say that I'm..." Hanayo took a deep breath before she bowed down. "I-I will do my best to help Knights out!"

"Hanayo-chan..."Anzu was speechless. To see the nervous petite brunette speaking up on her own, it was truly an amazing moment to watch. A loud huff could be heard from the grey-haired male as he stood up from his seat and look at Hanayo.

"Now that you've said all of that, I'll be sure to keep my eyes on you and make sure that you meant what you've just said earlier." the moment Izumi said that, Arashi cheered happily as he proceeded to hug the petite brunette, surprising and confusing her at the same time. Turns out that what Izumi was saying was secretly meant as an approval of her position as Knights' sub-producer.

Hanayo smiled at the news and looked over at Anzu, giving her an appreciating smile as the brunette did the same to her. She was glad that everything worked out well between the petite brunette and Knights.

* * *

"Oh, if it isn't Toujou!" Chiaki immediately perked up as Anzu revealed who was their unit's sub-producer when Nozomi walked into the meeting room and stood beside her. "Hahahaha! Isn't this a great news!? We have another defender of justice in our group now!"

"I'll be in your care~" Nozomi bowed down, smiling at the rest of the members of RYUSEITAI.

"The same goes to us, Nozomi~" Kanata smiled at the purple-haired female.

"Alright! With Toujou-senpai with us, RYUSEITAI would be unstoppable!" Tetora was hyped with the news. His excitement was as high as Chiaki's excitement level was as of now.

"You have our gratitude, Toujou-dono!" Shinobu spoke up, bowing down to a 90 degree angle to the purple-haired female.

"Oh god, another 'Morisawa-senpai' type..." Midori mumbled, casting his gaze away from the crowd. Despite everyone's positive response to Nozomi's appointment as their unit's sub-producer, only Midori was not as hyped as the rest as he remained seated on his chair, letting out a sigh. However, his statement caught the purple-haired female's attention as she crept up slowly behind him, without being noticed.

"What did you say about me, Mi-do-ri-kun~?" she whispered, the teasing tone she used was enough to make the tall brunette tensed. Slowly turning around, he was immediately greeted with a devilish smile from the purple-haired female.

"U-Uwahh!" Midori tried to run away but he was too late. Nozomi already caught him in her embrace, petting his head gently.

"There, there. Chiaki-kun kept mentioning that you were always down and tired when it comes to unit activities. No worries. That's why I'm here~ To help you relieve that stress." Nozomi kept on petting the tall 1st year student as he kept on struggling to escape. Their actions had caused everyone to laugh at him, looking all flustered and nervous from the affection he received from her. Although, eventually, the tall male slowly stopped resisting as he let her petted his head, willingly.

"Hahaha! Aren't you guys getting along? It's like they say, a good bond leads to a happy life!" Chiaki crossed his arms, smiling at the sight of his two friends getting along.

Due to Nozomi's motherly nature, Anzu knew that she had made the right decision on choosing her as the sub-producer of the loud bunch. Despite being the uncontrollable as well as the energetic unit, she believed that Nozomi could handle them with ease since the purple-haired female could be considered as a playful and trickster at certain times.

"That's just something you made up..." Midori mumbled before he let out a sigh. "Well, whatever. I don't even care..." His comment ended up getting everyone laughing at him, creating a happy atmosphere in the room.

* * *

The first thing that Anzu saw when she entered the meeting room for Ra*bits, was the sight of Nico hugging Nazuna in a tight grip, earning weird looks from the rest of the unit members as they stood far away from the duo.

"Geez, no need to be all embarrassed Nazuna-kun~! It's not like we've never done this before~!" Nico continued to hug the male even tighter while the blond male tried to pry her off.

"Nico-chin! Everyone is watching!" he said in a hushed tone but the petite female refused to let go. Seeing how the female senior wouldn't stop unless she was interfered, Anzu knew she had to do something.

"Ahem..." Anzu cleared her throat, immediately caught everyone's attention as they faced the brunette.

"Ah, Anzu-onee-chan!" Mitsuru called out, waving his hand at her. As Anzu made her way towards the group, she looked over at the petite female only to find her hugging the male.

"Nico-senpai, I thought I told you to wait for me before we go and meet them." she said and Nico quickly pressed both palms of her hands in front of her in an apologetic manner.

"Sorry~! But I just can't wait any longer!" she said. Soon after that, she leaned closer to Nazuna as she locked her arms with him. "After all, I got to watch over Nazuna-kun's unit out of all the other units~"

Anzu realized the look she received from the blond male when she glanced at him. It was as if he was asking why did she gave Nico to be his unit's sub-producer. If she could, she really wanted to tell them the truth. That Nico herself was forcing the brunette to give her Ra*bits, so that she could stay beside Nazuna even more.

"Nico-senpai, it's not just Nazuna-san that you need to watch over. The same thing applies to Hajime-kun, Mitsuru-kun and Tomoya-kun too." Anzu advised. At the mention of the three other student's names, the petite female looked over at them and stared. It wasn't a judging or angry stare, but just a plain, blank stare.

"But of course~!" she suddenly chirped. Suddenly she locked them all together in a hug, squeezing them together. "I'll be sure to take care of my juniors here as well! You can leave it to me~!"

"Ahh! Too tight, too tight!" Mitsuru said, as he trashed around to escape while Hajime was on the verge of fainting from the close and tight distance between them.

"No! Hajime's going to faint!" Tomoya cried out, trying to escape from the petite female's grip on them.

As Nico continued to hug the three youngsters, Anzu and Nazuna could only exchanged a knowing glance to each other as they hoped that the petite female doesn't do anything overboard with the rest of the Ra*bits' members.

* * *

Several days after appointing the sub-producer for the chosen units, Anzu made her way towards the Guidance Councilor's desk as she approached the man in his seat, typing on his laptop.

"Kunugi-sensei, here are the documents for the unit's recent activities." she said, catching the attention of the Guidance Councilor from his work.

"Oh, Anzu-san. That was fast." taking the files from the brunette, he examined one by one while Anzu remained standing beside him, waiting for the teacher to give a response. "Hmm, looks like everything is in proper order. Anyhow, thank you for sending these to me early."

"It's no problem, Kunugi-sensei. It was all thanks to the other girls for helping me out." she said, feeling a little bit relaxed as she smiled.

"Hmph, looks like your suggestion wasn't a bad idea after all." Akiomi said, crossing his arms as he gave her a stern look afterward.

"Although, I hoped that you won't slack off just because you have someone else to carry your burden. Remember this, you are still the producer for all these idols. Including μ's themselves. Even if those girls help lessen your burden, you still hold the biggest responsibility for them." he advised, his stern look remained on his face.

"Yes, I understand, Kunugi-sensei. I promise to do my very best!" Anzu nodded, smiling at the man in front of her. She knew fully well of her responsibility as a Producer. Now that she had the sub-producers to help her out, she found it her duty as well to guide them if they ever faced a problem in their work. After all, a Producer's job was never an easy task in the first place.

* * *

 **Finally. FINALLY. After for so long, I finally finished this chapter! I hoped that I didn't make you guys wait for too long. And in case if this chapter sucks, I'm sorry! I'm just a normal, simple human after all.**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	24. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!**

 **OPEN REQUESTS!**

I am so excited to share this announcement with all of you readers! Like the title itself, I'm opening requests from you guys to help create more fluff, cute, funny or interesting moments between the characters of Love Live and Ensemble Stars!

You may choose these particular groups as part of your request:

\- 1st Years

\- 2nd Years

\- 3rd Years

\- Character(s)

\- Club(s)

\- Unit(s)

Once you've choose who or whom, tell me what kind of interaction you wanted to see between them!

 **For example** :

\- An interaction between Class 1A and Class 1B going out for an outing.

\- Tennis club members having a competition among themselves.

\- Honoka, Kotori and Umi saw Trickstar practicing in a park.

\- [fine] and Akatsuki are having a meeting.

If you are interested, please leave a comment down below to give me your suggestions! If your idea is chosen, I'll be sure to credit you, no matter what! BUT REMEMBER! The request session is limited! Your ideas or suggestions may or may not be chosen. If you wanted to see an interaction between your favourite characters or pair, better hurry then!

 **(Note: Make sure your request does not clashed with the chosen pairings in this story. Thank you for your cooperation!)**

In case you are lost with when do you want the moment to take place, I have prepared a schedule of the flow of the story by using a calender! I took the calender schedule reference from Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 3 PSP version. So, 'real' or 'not real' is not really an argument here. (W)

* * *

 **The schedule of the setting in the story!**

 ** _Spring (1st March - 31st May)_**

○ 2nd week of March – Final Exams (3rd semester)

○ 4th week of March – Spring Break (2 weeks)

* 14th March – White Day (end of story)

○ Early April – Opening ceremony (1st year students enrolled / Beginning of 1st semester)

○ Last week of April until 3rd week of May (approximately 24 days = 4 weeks) – Chapter 1 until Chapter 23 took place. _**(makes no sense right? Just ignore it. Aha~)**_

✧ **Last week of May until 1st week of June – REQUEST OPEN! (Currently situated.)**

 _ **Summer (1st June - 31st August)**_

○ Saturday, 2nd week of June – Sports Festival

○ Monday, 2nd week of July – Final Exams (1st semester)

○ Monday, 4th week of July – Summer Break (6/7 weeks) [SPECIAL CHAPTER!]

✧ **After [Special Chapter], during Summer Break – REQUEST WILL BE OPEN!**

 ** _Autumn / Fall (1st September - 30th November)_**

○ 1st September – Second Semester start

* Monday – Saturday, 3rd week of September – Field Trip (2nd Years only!)

✧ **During Field Trip week – REQUEST WILL BE OPEN!**

○ Last Saturday of October – Festival Announcement (2 weeks of preparations)

* Saturday, 2nd week of November – Culture Festival start

 _ **Winter (1st December - 28th / 29th February)**_

○ 2nd week of December – Final Exams (2nd semester)

* 24th December – Party

○ 25th December – Winter Break (1/2 weeks) [SPECIAL CHAPTERS]

✧ **After [Special Chapters], d** **uring Winter Break – REQUEST WILL BE OPEN!**

○ 1st January – New Year

○ 2nd week of January (usually on 8th) – Third Semester start

* 14th February – Valentine's Day

○ 23rd February – Exam (3rd Years only!)

-go back to Spring-

* * *

 **Yep, that's a lot of events and request sessions~! For now, we're stuck in the middle of Spring and Summer! That's where you, dear readers, will be given the chance to make this story even more interesting than ever~! Anyhow, thank you for taking your time to read this announcement/notice! I really appreciate your supports and visits to read this story! It means so much to me and I love you guys so much! Again, thank you and I'll see you in the upcoming chapters~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	25. The Liveliest (Class 1B)

**1st request coming up from 2wink! (No, not the actual 2wink unit, but someone named 2wink. Get it? Aha~)**

 **2wink requested = concept; 1b doing odd 1b things. rinrin gets them all to sing μ's songs despite the vocal range thing. should work well enough**

 **double concept; my (probably platonic) yuutsukasa**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 24: The Liveliest Class

A long sigh slowly made its' way out of Tori's mouth as the pink-haired male stood in the middle of the class with a broom in his hands.

"Why do I have to do this again...?" he asked, casting his gaze at the broom in his hand with a disgusted look. His question caught most of his classmates' attention as they turned their gaze at the pink-haired male.

"Aww, come on, Tori-chan. It's not like you have to do everything this time. You just have to sweep around and you're done." Mitsuru turned around from facing the window he was wiping.

"Why should I do this when Rin over there, is doing most of the job?" the pink-haired male pointed at the mentioned female as Rin continues her sweeping, completely oblivious with her surroundings. While the others chuckled at the oblivious female, Tori was not. In fact, it irked him. Especially when he heard the female humming while she was doing her work in an easygoing state.

"Well, I think Rin-chan is more positive in doing her job. Unlike a certain someone~" Yuta spoke up, the teasing tone in his voice was as clear as crystal which caused Tori to turn and faced him with a frown.

"Yuta-kun, that was not nice." Tsukasa gave the youngest twin a disapproval look. Nonetheless, he had a knowing smile on his face. Yuta could only grin as he continues reading his comic book at his seat.

Rin finally finished sweeping at the front part of the class as she wiped away the sweats on her forehead. Turning around, she was immediately faced with a frown on Tori's face that was directed to her.

"Uwah! W-What's wrong, Tori-chan?" Rin asked, slightly surprised.

"I don't understand how easygoing you can be with your cleaning duty. Even so far singing while doing so." Tori muttered. Rin could only let out a soft chuckle.

"Well, it's not like I liked cleaning too but..." she walked towards Tori and smiled. "Somehow, when I sing while I'm cleaning the class, it makes me feel like the whole cleaning becomes easy, you know?"

"I can never understand your views in things..." the pink-haired male mumbled.

"But it's true-nyaa! You should try it too~ Who knows? Maybe it'll help gives you motivation!" Rin urged, nudging the pink-haired male from the side. Tori gave her a frown before casting his gaze elsewhere.

"No thanks. My mood is already down in the dumps to even start singing the moment I held this broom..." he mumbled before he started sweeping slowly, as if he was tired. Rin could only look at him with a worried expression before a light bulb appeared above her head. The idea that came to her mind caused the orange-haired female to giggle. Her actions caught Tori's attention as he stared at her with suspicious eyes.

"W-What's wrong with you?" Tori asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the female's sudden giggling.

"Well, since you're not in the mood to sing, then I've decided to sing for you~!" Rin announced.

"No."

"I know just the song to help you get motivated~! Are you ready-nyaa?"

"I said, no."

"It's Bokura wa Ima no Naka de~! Start!" and Rin started humming the start of the song and using the broom as if it was a mic stand.

 **Rin : Honest feelings tie us all together**

 **Even when we're being serious we're clumsy, Our hearts clash**

Rin sang as she skipped around the class, pretending as if it was the stage. She earned glances from her classmates as she caught their knowing smiles as they stood up from their places. **  
**

 **Rin : Even so I want to achieve big dreams**

 **It's right here, It's only just begun**

 **Yuta : (I know)**

 **Rin & Mitsuru : It's not just fun and games, We have to be tested**

 **Tsukasa : (I know)**

 **Rin & Shinobu : Even though hardship lies in the future**

 **Yuta & Tsukasa : (I'll go)**

Tori could only watched the rest of his classmates with a ridiculous look as they sang and danced along with the orange-haired female.

 **Rin : When we come together we get stronger**

 **Mitsuru & Shinobu : (I'm sure) **

**Rin : We'll continue to change**

 **Yuta & Tsukasa : (We'll be stars!)**

Unknowingly what took him over, Tori was caught up in the mood of their singing as he began to move along with the beat of the song.

 **All : If each of us can put our hearts into the things we love**  
 **All : A new (place – Yuta & Tsukasa) will be our goal**  
 **All : If we trust in the things each of us loves**  
 **All : We can (embrace – Tenma & Sengoku) the excitement and move forward**

Tori couldn't contain himself from being excited as he suddenly joined in, danced and sang with them.

 **All : (Leave your fears behind)**

 **Tori : With a brilliant smile**

 **All : (Fly, fly high) We live in the present**

 **All : We've waited to shine**

The moment the singing ended, everyone burst out laughing. Somehow, the song had uplifted everyone's mood, including the pink-haired male. Tori was basically laughing genuinely with the rest before Yuta struck up a conversation in between their laughter.

"Oh my god, did you guys even hear how we sang that song? It was bad! Ahahahaha~" Yuta laughed, tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Our voices weren't even in sync with each other. It was very...unbalanced." Shinobu shook his head. Despite feeling embarrassed with what had happened, he continues to chuckle with the others.

"I agree, it was pretty bad." Tori nodded his head.

"You said that but in the end, you joined in as well." Tsukasa gave the pink-haired male a teasing smile. Tori pouted at the statement before casting his gaze away, causing everyone to laugh once more. The sound of a clapping hand caught everyone's attention to the door. There, stood Harukawa Sora, one of their classmate as the blond male looked at them with twinkling eyes, still clapping his hands.

"Amazing~! You guys were practically shining in various colours when you're singing together~!" the smile on Sora's face grew wider as he grinned.

"Sora~!" Rin waved her hand at the new arrival. In return, he waved back.

"Hi Hi~! You guys looked like you're having fun~" Sora crossed his arms behind his head as he walked towards the crowd.

"Hehe, well, it DID turned out to be fun~" Rin grinned before turning around to face the others. "Right guys?"

"Yep! It's too bad you were a few minutes late. Or else, you could have joined us and sing too!" Tenma said, the excitement in his tone was too obvious.

"Yeah, so that we could add more horrible voices and made it sound worse. That would be great~" Yuta snickered, only to get hit on the back by Tsukasa. The youngest twin could only grin, acting as if he didn't do anything wrong.

"Aww, it must have been really fun. Huhu, if I had known that this would happened, I should have stayed over before I left the class~! I even have a new dance move to show you guys..." Sora pouted when he saw how much his classmates were having fun. Sora's statement caused everyone to laugh until the blond male joined as well.

"Hey, there's always next time! After all, that's what makes our class the most lively than the others-nyaa!" Rin grinned.

"But I have to say, we should practice first before we do it again..." Rin thought out loud, her facial expression showed how concerned she was with the singing that took place. The long, awkward silence filled the classroom before everyone burst out laughing once more.

* * *

 **There you have it! 1st request from 2wink-san~! I shall say this once again, it's not the unit themselves. It's someone named 2wink. Get it? Good~! So, yeah, I hope this is an okay in your page 2wink-san! I tried coming up with various ideas and somehow, singing while cleaning the class seemed like good setup.**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	26. Reversed Stalking? (Hanayo&Makoto&Izumi)

**Coming up next, the 2nd request from sweetknife55~!**

 **sweetknife55 requested = A Hanayo and Makoto moment~! But then, someone just had to ruin it.**

 **Anyway, I'm not going to hold you up here any longer (not that you're actually going to read this right~?), so, enjoy the chapter~! And don't kill me for the teasing down there...**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 25: Reversed Stalking?

It was almost time for club meeting and Hanayo quickly made her way out of the class, worried if she somehow arrived late for club practice. Her last period teacher ended up giving their class a sudden last minute assignment right when the bell rang. Class 1B was already empty by the time she ran down the hallway.

"Uwahh! Even Tori-kun already left the class! I need to hurry!" she cried as she made her way to the tennis court. After almost like an eternity, she finally arrived at the location. However, the sight of an empty tennis court piqued her curiosity.

"Oh...? Where is everybody?" she asked to herself. Since she had took her time catching her breath, she went inside the tennis club room. What she found out that it was also empty. No one familiar could be seen around, even Nozomi.

"That's weird. Was it canceled?" she wondered out loud as she made her way out of the room. Still caught up in her own thoughts, she failed to notice someone watching from the distance. It was only when someone's voice calling her out, that she finally snapped out from her deep thoughts.

"Oi~! Hana-chan!"

Hanayo looked around to find who was calling her out when her eyes finally landed on a familiar male that she knew very well. The sight of his blond hair and the over-familiar glasses caused her to freeze on her spot.

"M-Makoto-senpai!" the brunette unintentionally squeaked. The blond male suddenly made his way towards the brunette, causing her to panic and becomes nervous.

"Hey there, what are you doing out here? Were you searching for someone?" the bespectacled male asked. Hanayo was trying to calm herself down by looking away.

"I-I-I, um, I did. B-But, when I came here, I-I-I-I..." her stuttering was getting out of hand that even Makoto could see how much the brunette was struggling with herself.

"C-Calm down, Hana-chan. Take a deep breath..." he instructed as he motioned an action for her. The brunette looked at him before she followed along.

"And let it go..." he said and Hanayo let out the breath she was holding slowly. Her heartbeat was finally slowing down to its' normal pace. She could hear the male letting out a relief sigh before he spoke up. "There, are you alright now?"

His attempt on calming her down and reassuring her, moved her. Although it was nothing more than just a simple reassurance, for Hanayo, it was something big. To have her crush cared for her, it only made her heart beats faster. It was also one of the thing that she liked about him. After realizing that she was being silent the whole time, she finally spoke up.

"U-Um, I-I think so... I-I'm sorry about that..." she apologized, bowing down.

"Hahaha, don't sweat it. What's gotten you so nervous though?" he asked and Hanayo could feel her face heating up the moment the question left his mouth. How could she even tell him that the cause of her panic and nervous was because of him, himself?

"Hey, if you don't want to tell, then it's fine. I'm not forcing you to tell me about it. So, don't worry about it~" Makoto showed her a thumbs up, smiling at the brunette. Somehow, the sight of his smile also calmed her down despite her heart was beating faster again.

"No, i-it's not like it's something that I wanted to hide. I was just, well, um," she began to explain but at the same time, avoided his eyes. "I was just surprised to see no one here when club activities should have started long ago..."

"Hm? You mean, our club activity? Didn't Nito-senpai told us that it was canceled last minute?" the confused tone in his voice caught the brunette's attention as she brought her gaze back up.

"Eh?"

"Well, he said it in our group chat. Didn't you get the message?" Makoto said it so bluntly that it left the brunette confused as well as blank at the same time. The bespectacled male had to show the brunette their group chat from his phone. Turns out that he really was telling the truth and Hanayo just realized that she just ran all the way to the tennis club room for nothing.

"I-Is that so... Well, it can't be helped. My phone broke down yesterday and it's currently being repaired...so, I really didn't have the choice of getting informed of the latest news..." she let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, that is kind of unfortunate." Makoto crossed his arms as he posed in his thinking pose. Several seconds after that, he spoke up.

"Hey, how about this..." his sentence caught her attention. "You should just come straight to me if you need any information. Club activities, current news or maybe upcoming events. They don't call me the informant for no reason you know~?" he said, with a bit of proud tone in his voice, especially at the last sentence.

Hanayo, on the other hand, froze as if she was a stone. The words 'come straight to me' rang in her mind like a broken record as it rewound the same thing again and again. Not only her face was turning red but even her heart was beating faster than previously.

"E-Eh!? I-I-I-I-I-! You!? B-But that's...!" she began to stutter but Makoto's smile somehow gave off a message that encouraged her to accept his offer. After she calmed down, she began to think. Thinking it over, how could she ever passed up the offer? This was one of the rarest chance she could ever wished for to get closer to her crush. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, a smile made its' way on her face.

"S-Sure, I'm happy to accept the offer-"

"Hm~ Must be nice to have someone reliable right? Hana-chan~" a new voice interrupted her as her whole body tensed when she realized the new yet familiar voice. Even Makoto's whole body tensed too as he looked past over her shoulder. Slowly turning around, Hanayo's eyes met with Izumi's eyes.

"Eek!" she squeaked, backing away but unfortunately, Izumi already wrapped an arm around her neck, preventing the brunette from going anywhere.

"How cold of you Hana-chan~ Going to someone else help when you could have just went and find me. Or maybe, you wanted me to FIND you instead~" every single words that left his mouth sent shivers down Hanayo's spine as she could feel the malice in every single one of them. It completely made her speechless as well as numb.

"I-Izumi-san! Let go of her! Can't you see she's scared...!" Makoto tried to help but it was clear that he doesn't want to shorten the distance between him and the grey-haired male nor does he want the male to come anywhere closer to him.

"Haa~? Since when does Yuu-kun cares about Hana-chan anyway?" Izumi asked, annoyed.

"W-Well! It's because...she's my junior after all! I have the responsibility to look after them!" Makoto replied, staying strong to his words as if he wanted to proof Izumi that he was serious. However, the grey-haired male laughed it off as he pulled the female brunette closer to him.

"Well then, if that's the case, then that means I also have the responsibility to look after my juniors. Especially since this one right here is under me~" he nudged Hanayo closer.

"What-? What do you mean?" Makoto asked, confused.

"Not sure if you heard about this Yuu-kun, but Hana-chan right here in placed under [Knights] as our sub-producer. Just as how she will help take care of [Knights], I will also take care of her~" the moment he announced the news in front of him, Makoto's face turned into one that looked like a horrified expression. The sight of that expression only made Izumi smirked.

"But don't worry Yuu-kun~ Even though Hana-chan is one of the juniors I have to look after, this doesn't change anything between us. Because YOU," he pointed at Makoto, "...are still my 1st priority amongst them."

Makoto could feel his whole body shivered in fear when the grey-haired male said that. It freaked him out just how much the male wanted to get his attention.

"Now then, I'd loved to stay around and chat with you more since this is a rare chance..." he walked towards the bespectacled male, surprising him as he tried to back away but Izumi just went passed him, leaving Makoto confused as well as blank at his normal approach.

"But I have a small 'discussion' with Hana-chan here. It's nothing really important but you're welcome to join us since Hana-chan here prefers more people to join the conversation~" Izumi said with a teasing tone before he left the bespectacled male behind.

"What-? I, uh...I-"

"Well, if you don't want to, it's fine~ We'll go ahead first. If you ever have a second thought, we're would always welcome you with open arms~" with that, Izumi walked off, dragging the brunette female. When they were finally far away from Makoto, Hanayo finally regained her composure back as she tried to walk properly as she tried to pry Izumi's arm around her neck.

"Sena-senpai..." she called out to the male beside her.

"Hm?" It was obvious from his tone that he had reverted back to his usual, cold attitude. Not even sparing a glance at her, he finally let go of his hold around her neck as he continues to walk forward.

"You're just using me as an excuse to get him to follow us, aren't you...?" Hanayo asked in a soft voice, almost like whispering. Suddenly, a smirk appeared on his face.

"Exactly~ No more stalking Yuu-kun from this day onward. Now HE has to be the one stalking me~"

"You mean 'us'..." the brunette mumbled and fortunately, Izumi didn't realized what she just said as he was too caught up with his own thoughts. Glancing over her shoulder, she could saw the bespectacled male tailing them from behind, hiding on certain occasions. Both Izumi and Hanayo knew that his hiding attempts were obvious and Izumi found it as an opportunity to call him out to join them, which Makoto refused but still ended up following them. Hanayo could only let out a sigh as she wondered how this will affected them in the future.

* * *

 **I don't even know how it ended up like this. Couldn't believe that I made Izumi even more of a jerk than before. Ahahahaha~! But yeah, he does have that kind of personality where he will play psychology thing-y just so that he could get what he wants to have. Jerk move, right? I know. Cause I've done it before. Muahahaha~!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	27. Helping Each Other (Hanayo & Knights)

**Coming up next, the 3rd request from lychee-ran~!**

 **lychee-ran requested = "** **Hanayo and knights, like Hanayo is learning to become a producer, and the knights (more or less) tries to help her."**

 **Yet, another Hanayo oneshot~! This time with Knights~! Fufufufu, now just what would happened between these guys, I wonder~**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 26: Helping Each Other

She felt as if her head was about to explode. All the papers in front of her was scattered around the table as she tried to keep up with [Knights]'s newest updates and activities. It didn't help when Tsukasa kept on talking without even noticing her distressed look as she tried to write down the report.

"So, our next song is still on the progress. Our leader is currently tweaking with it a bit but after that, we can get to practice the next day. Of course, once that's settled, we need to do the recording which we all assumed might take a while since some of us might be busy with their jobs. But don't worry about the recording studio. We've booked one already somewhere in the town. I think it's around the shopping district but I'm not fully sure. So, we need to confirm that with Leader after this. Oh, and about the costumes-" Tsukasa kept on talking without even sparing a glance at the brunette female as he went through his notebook which he had always used to wrote about his unit's progress each day.

At that point, Hanayo had already gave up trying to keep up with the male as she let out a silent sigh. She looked at the paper she was holding, the song report. Scanning through the paper, she let out another silent sigh. She could just write down what the red-haired male had previously had talked on the paper's description but she was hesitant what was the right thing to do.

This was actually her first time writing unit's progress report without Anzu aiding her. Previously, Anzu helped do most of the job while explaining to her what should she filled in the report. Of course, she did paid attention. She even understood completely what she had to do. But the problem she was facing is, does she need to write everything in the report?

"Um, Koizumi-san?" Tsukasa's voice snapped the brunette female out of her thoughts as she looked up to face the red-haired male.

"What's wrong? Was my explanation too long?" he asked. He had a worried expression on his face which caused the brunette female to panic as well as guilty.

"E-Eh? Ah, n-no! It's not that! Your explanation is fine. I was just-! It's just that-" Hanayo tried to explain but the stare Tsukasa directed to her caused her to freeze and stopped. His stare was implying that he knew that she was trying to cover up, so she decided to be honest with him.

"Well, I think, I'm actually kind of lost on what I should write down instead." she avoided his gaze by looking at the floor as she played with the hem of her skirt.

"I see. I'm guessing that my explanation was too fast for you to catch up..." he said without even realizing that his statement had somehow made the brunette guilty in the inside.

"I-I'm sorry that I'm so slow..." she apologized, tears forming at the corner of her eyes as she bowed her head down.

"Huh? Oh, w-why are you apologizing? I'm the one who should apologized." the red-haired male's panicked voice gave out. Even before Hanayo could say anything, the door to the room opened and three familiar figures came into view.

"We're here~! Sorry we're late. We had to drag our King here so he doesn't run off the second we took our eyes off of him." Arashi walked in, dragging Leo by the collar of his school blazer with Izumi walking behind. At first, the orange-haired male was thrashing around, trying to force Arashi's hands to let go of his hold on him but the moment his eyes laid on the two figures in the room, he immediately reverted back to his usual cheerful self.

"Ucchu~! How are you guys doing?" Leo greeted both the brunette as well as the red-haired male, without even showing a slightest care about his state. Tsukasa could only hide his face in embarrassment while Hanayo let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, Hana-chan~! You're here! Is it about our unit's report?" Arashi finally let go of his hold on Leo, without even caring about his leader's condition as the orange-haired male fell backwards on the floor, grunting in pain.

"Y-Yes, it is..." she replied, slightly worried over Leo's conditioned before she was forced to look over at Arashi in front of her.

"Ah, I see~! Oh, before I forgot. There's one thing I need to tell you about. It's our costumes. I don't know if Tsukasa-chan had told you about it but, it appears that our uniforms might finished a little bit later than I expected it'll be." the blond male explained, his previous cheerful expression was replaced with a sad one.

"Oh, you didn't managed to finish it up by today?" Tsukasa asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Seems like my schedule turned out to be more packed than I thought it'll be. Anyway, I just wanted to inform you about that, Hana-chan. So, I think it's better if you write it down that the costumes completion was delayed." the blond male explained.

"O-Oh, I see. T-Then-" even before Hanayo could write down about their unit's costume progression, Leo interrupted them.

"Oh, oh! Speaking of which, I've completed the song! Here you go!" Leo shoved a CD into Hanayo's hand as she was forcefully given to.

"Uh..."

"Oh, don't worry~! That's just a copy of the song. In case Kunugi-sensei needs to know how the song sounds like." Leo explained, the grin he had on his face didn't helped calm the brunette female.

"I-I see." she placed down the CD on the table until he continues his explanation.

"It's a type of ballad, you know? So, you might as well just write it down on the report. Oh, also, this song is about-" Leo kept on babbling about the origins of the songs and its' meaning without even stopping. His explanation seemed to go on that Hanayo could feel her head exploding with new information plus his eccentric behaviour only made her condition worse. Unfortunately, no one seemed to realize that she was reaching her point of distress.

"-and that's basically everything about the song~! Ahahaha~! What do you think? Amazing right? I've poured all my inspirations together to create this masterpiece~" Leo proudly exclaimed, crossing his arms with his head held high.

"Um, Leader..." Tsukasa spoke up. When everyone was looking over at the red-haired male, Tsukasa could only pointed at the female brunette.

"I think you just fried her brain..."

"WHAT!?" Arashi exclaimed, shocked when he saw the brunette's state. While he tried to snap the brunette back to reality, Leo could only look at her, confused without feeling a slight hint of guilt over what had happened. Izumi, who had been silent the whole time, could only let out a frustrated sigh as he took in the scenario in front of him.

"Oh, for the love of god..."

* * *

"We're so sorry about that, Hana-chan... We didn't realized that we were pressuring you with your report... It must have been tough for you." Arashi apologized, petting the brunette's head in a gentle manner. If she had to be honest, she still haven't got used to the blond male's clinginess but it certainly helped calmed her down in her current situation.

"N-No, it's fine. Don't worry about it. In fact, I'm the one who should be apologizing..." Hanayo cast an apologetic look at the blond male beside her before casting it to the floor.

"Yeah, you better." Izumi replied, harshly. The glare that he directed to her made her jumped a little. "You just had to cause a problem for all of us, don't you?"

"Izumi-chan, don't be too harsh on her." Arashi warned the grey-haired male with a scolding tone.

"And you should stop spoiling her too much." he retorted back. Leo, despite goofing around in the room, sensed the tension in the air and he decided to break it away before it gets worse.

"Now, now, Sena. I'm sure Hanayo never had that kind of intention in the first place. I mean, think about it. This is her first time taking care of our unit's activities without Anzu. I'm sure she's trying her best to help us out~"

"Urgh, even the stupid king just had to go and side with her in this..." Izumi grumbled all by himself before letting out a forced huff. "Fine, whatever. I don't care anymore."

"I-I'm really, really sorry..." Hanayo apologized, the guilt inside of her was growing bigger and she couldn't help but formed tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Aww, now, now. Don't be like that. We're not mad. Well, except for that grumpy over there-" Arashi pointed over at Izumi.

"Hey!"

"...but that matters not to us. It's your first time after all. And from the looks of it," Arashi took her reports and scanned through all of them. It took him a while to go through them all but when he finished, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Yep, although it's not complete, you got most of the report down right. To me, I think that's good enough, right~?" Arashi gave the brunette a reassuring smile.

"I...did?"

"But, of course! You don't need to write down a full description of our progress. Just jot down the main points and voila, you're done~" he handed back the papers to the female brunette.

"I see, so that's why Koizumi-san was confused with my explanation." Tsukasa nodded his head, finally realizing the cause of her confusion. He faced the brunette before bowing down slightly. "I apologized for not noticing that earlier, Koizumi-san."

"Eh? O-oh, no. It's fine, Suou-kun. I'm the one who didn't tell you beforehand. That's why, I would like to apologize as well, for not telling you." the brunette bowed her head down as well.

"Urgh, can you stop with all the apologies? It's so~ annoying..." Izumi finally had enough as he stood up from his seat and went towards the brunette. His approaching figure caused her to tense up but she remained on her spot, nevertheless.

"You!" he pointed at her.

"Y-Yes!?" she unintentionally squeaked. The silence between them caused her to panic. His glare didn't helped calm her nerves at all. In fact, he made it worse. That was until, he finally let out a sigh.

"If you ever face any troubles or problems regarding your job as our unit's sub-producer, just ask for help alright? Surely, you're not that stupid to not ask for our help? Geez..." it was clear in his face that the grey-haired male was frustrated. However, what really surprised everyone was that he showed his concern over the female.

"Oh~? Looks like Sena does worries about Hanayo~ Wait! Does this means...! You actually cared for her but decided to show it!? My deduction was true! You're a tsundere! ...Oh, my slang came out~" Leo said, his eccentricity quickly affected Izumi as he reverted back to his usual cold, grumpy self.

"Shut up, you stupid king...!" Izumi glared at the orange-haired male. His anger was fueled even more when Leo laughed at him while he spoke nonsense, running away from the grey-haired male in the room. The antics between them lighten up the mood in the room, the previous tension in the air quickly faded away.

"But I must say, Izumi-chan made a good point." Arashi said, leaning closer to the brunette.

"In case you ever need our help, just ask us. And if you're not comfortable with asking those guys," The blond male winked at her with a smile. "You can count on this big sister to help you around~ I will never have a problem helping such a cute and hardworking girl like you~"

The brunette swore her face was heating up with what the blond male had just told her. Even so, a smile slowly crept up on her face as she nodded her head.

"Thank you."

* * *

~ Extra ~

"Hmm, looks like everyone's getting along just nice..." a new yet familiar voice spoke up as it caught everyone's attention to the source of it. While every member of Knights were helping the female brunette with her report, they weren't expecting to see Ritsu from behind a sofa in the room.

"R-Ritsu-senpai!? When did you-?" Hanayo squeaked. The mentioned male was yawning before he rubbed his eyes and faced everyone in the room.

"Hm? Oh, I was here all the time. In fact, I was here before both you and Suu-chan even arrived. You guys just didn't noticed me taking a nap here. I even heard the whole thing that just happened~" the sleepy male yawned once again, rubbing his eyes before he went back to lay down on the spot he was sleeping previously, hidden from everyone's sight.

"So, yeah. Looks like everything went well. Now, if you guys could somehow tone down a little bit with your voice, that will be great. Good night~" while Ritsu went back to his sleep, everyone could only look at him with disapproving look.

* * *

 **There you go~! A Hanayo and [Knights] moment! Sorry for the long wait~! I just had to re-arrange all the requests that I got so that it'll make sense (in a way~)! Yeah, somehow it took me a while to do this. Not sure why? (probably my writer's block...)**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	28. Behind the Meaning (Hanayo&Maki&Knights)

**Coming up next, the 4th request from Fairbear~!**

 **Fairbear requested =** **Maki helping Hanayo practice singing (maybe, Nawatobi?) and the members of Knights accidentally overhear and go check it out, but get caught. Cue embarrassed Hanayo!**

 **Oh my, looks like we have more Hanayo oneshot here. The Hanayo fandom is REAL! But this time, Maki is with her along with the [Knights]'s members~! AND, I might actually use a different song~ So that this will turn out 'fun' than I planned to~**

 **(A/N : Sorry for the long wait everyone! While I was writing this, I was having my final exams so yeah, I was in 'EXAM HELL' mode.** **But now I'm free~! Now I can get back to my writing obsession as well as your requests! Don't worry, I still have your requests on my list. It's just taking a bit more time before I can post it. Anyway, hope you enjoy the next chapter~!)**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 27: Behind the Meaning (Hanayo&Maki&Knights)

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Hanayo quickly fasten her running pace as she made her way towards the Music Room that she had always promised with Maki to meet up after their sub-producer duties. Once the Music Room was in sight, she quickly came to a halt as she tried to catch her breath before entering the room in haste.

"Sorry I'm late, Maki-chan!" she yelled out, surprising the mentioned female from her seat in front of a piano as she stare at the brunette with wide eyes.

"O-Okay...?" It was the only word that Maki could get out from her mouth as she watched Hanayo walked inside the room, looking tired and out of energy as she sat down on an empty chair.

"A-Are you...okay?"

The only answer she got from the brunette was a long sigh.

* * *

Maki has decided to give the brunette a little rest before they could start with their practice. Although the red-haired female insisted that she should rest up first, Hanayo couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. She had been asking the red-haired female to help her with her vocal practice ever since μ's had decided to create their first solo song.

The moment she heard Honoka announced the news, Hanayo was beyond excited and amongst all members of μ's, she was the first one to finish writing a lyric for her song. Surprisingly, and yet, not so surprising at the same time, she wrote a love song. ' _A Lonely Heaven_ ', a song about unrequited love.

She could still remember Umi's face when she asked the blue-haired female to help her arranged the lyric. Umi couldn't stop stuttering the whole time. Now that her lyric had been completed, and Maki had also composed the song, all that was left was to practice singing it. Which brought her here, in the Music Room with Maki. They had been practicing for three days and Hanayo wanted to master it as soon as she could.

"Hanayo?" Maki called her out, snapping the brunette immediately. When she looked over at the piano seat, she found Maki looking at her with a worried look on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, y-yeah! I'm fine now. I'm ready!" she got up from her seat, walking towards the red-haired female, looking more pumped than she had ever been which caused Maki to giggle.

"Looks like someone is excited."

"Y-You think so...?" the brunette laughed nervously, a blush making its' way on her face. "Well, I just wanted to get better at singing."

"I can understand why." the red-haired female gave her a small smirk which caused the brunette to look at her with a confused look.

"Come on Hanayo, as if I couldn't tell that you're actually directing this to your 'crush'. Am I right?" she asked, the word 'crush' was emphasized a little louder than the rest, making the brunette froze.

"M-M-M-Maki-chan...! Don't say that out loud...!" the brunette looked around the room cautiously as if to find if someone was nearby that might have eavesdropped them, despite the fact that only both of them were in the room.

"Relax, I was just teasing you. Well, don't worry about it. I know you can do it. After all, you have been practice singing it at home everyday."

"How-!? How did you know that!?" she asked, surprised written all over her face along with the blush spreading all over her face. As if the previous teasing wasn't enough, Hanayo found herself panicking once again from the red-haired female's statement.

"Rin told me. She said that whenever she passed by your house when she was out for a walk, she heard you singing from your room." Maki gave the brunette a small, teasing smile. Hanayo was speechless, as well as embarrassed. She literally had to hide her face behind her hands.

"Huuu...how embarrassing..." she sat down with her face still hidden behind her hands. The brunette's state only made the red-haired female sighed. It took almost half an hour for Maki to snap the brunette back to reality so that they could focused back on practicing and they haven't even started anything yet. After getting her senses back, Hanayo was prepared.

"Are you ready?" Maki asked with her fingers touching lightly on the piano keys. Hanayo took one deep breath before she let it out and nodded her head.

Hanayo: **My heart beats faster when I think about you**

 **I'm burning up!**

Once she started singing, Maki played the instrumental part of the song as Hanayo readied herself to continue singing.

Hanayo: **"You seem more tired than usual"**

 **I quietly say from behind you**

Hanayo continues to sing, she failed to notice the surprised look that was on Maki's face. The red-haired female seemed to notice the way the brunette's voice was conveying the song as passionately as she could.

Hanayo: **Can't you hear me?**

 **My heart is speaking to you**

 **Even though we're in the same classroom, you're too far away**

Hanayo sang to her heart's content, completely oblivious of her surrounding as she sang just as she had been practicing all the time with Maki. The level of her voice, the feelings that she used to sing, the message she wanted to convey. The meaning of the song that was hidden deep in the song. She hoped that one day, he will noticed it.

Hanayo: **Maybe I'm bothering you just by looking at you?**

 **A sigh slips through my lips as I murmur to myself**

Hanayo: **This lonely heaven won't come to an end**

 **I can't tell you to notice my feelings**

 **Because I'm afraid of heartbreak**

 **This love mustn't disappear**

 **This is my lonely heaven**

 **Painful yet affectionate**

 **My heart beats faster when I think about you**

 **I can't stop this burning passion!**

 **This passionate heaven**

When the song finally finished, Hanayo looked over to Maki, who gave her a smile of approval.

"You did it, Hanayo. I think so far, that was the best singing voice I've ever heard from you." the red-haired female said, getting up from her seat as she walked forward to the brunette. Hanayo was smiling wide when she heard the praise, the blush on her face was appearing.

"Ehehe, you're making me blush, Maki-chan. But, it's all thanks to you. You've helped me a lot."

"Well, I would say that it was your effort that helped you the most." Maki said, smiling as she crossed her arms. "I can see you improved a lot, Hanayo. To be honest, I'm quite moved."

"I WAS MOVED AS WELL~!" someone yelled right outside the room as they suddenly barged into the room, slamming the door open, surprising the two females as they squeaked from the loud noise and looked over at the intruder. It was Tsukinaga Leo, with a grin on his face as he stood in front of the door. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised the two females. The other 4 figures that fell forward into the room was also the reason of their surprise and to make matters worst, it was the rest of the [Knight]'s members.

"THAT. WAS. AWESOME!" Leo yelled out, once again as he directed it to the two females, mostly at Hanayo.

"W-W-W-W-W-What is everyone doing here!?" Hanayo squeaked as panic starting to take over her while Maki could only stare at them with a frown, unhappy with a sudden interruption.

"You stupid king! Did you have to open the goddamn door so suddenly!?" Izumi tried to get up, only to realize that Ritsu was still laying on top of him, not even trying to make an effort to move away. "Hey, Ritsu! I'm in the middle of something important right now! So will you please get off of me?"

"Secchan, I can't bring myself to get up... You're too soft..."

"Oh, for the love of-" Izumi didn't even finished his sentence and he decided to help, which was by pushing himself up by force as Ritsu rolled over to the floor, still laying down.

"My, my, looks like we got busted..." Tsukasa mumbled, looking all nervous as he got up from the floor. Arashi, however, remained sitting on the floor as he looked over to the two females.

"Oh, Hana-chan! Please don't be mad~ It's not what it looks like, we promise! We definitely didn't eavesdropped on you at all! Right boys~?" Arashi tried his best to look natural but Maki's skeptical stare and Hanayo's almost-crying face was enough to make the blond male stopped what he was trying to say. However, Leo doesn't seemed to care as he continues to laugh out loud.

"What's wrong with you guys? You guys looked like you just got dumped with cold water. Ahahahaha~!"

"Argh! Shut up~!" Izumi finally snapped. "It was your fault for opening the door all of the sudden!"

"WHAT!? You guys were eavesdropping them before I was even here!" Leo retorted, pointing fingers at the rest of the [Knights]' members.

"WHAT!?" both Maki and Hanayo said in unison.

"Yeah, they did!"

"Nope, I just tagged along..." Ritsu mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear that it made Leo laughed out loud. Maki could only facepalm herself as she tried to take in the whole situation for her brain to process everything while Hanayo remained on her spot, still traumatized by what had took place.

"But anyway! That was an awesome song!" Leo suddenly spoke up, leaning closer to Hanayo.

"Huh...?"

"I mean, accepting your loneliness more than trying to chase after something you wished for? To me, that sounded very 'knightly'~! In fact, it sounded a lot like our unit's type of songs! As expected of our sub-producer~! Ahahahahaha~!" Leo continues to laugh as the rest of the [Knights] members could only look away in embarrassment.

"Hold on. Does that mean you've been listening from the beginning?" Maki finally spoke up with a disapproval look on her face. To make matters worst, Leo proudly nodded his head as if he did nothing wrong.

"Then that means..." Hanayo could feel her body turning cold as she turned around and she squatted down, refusing to look at anyone. "...you guys heard everything..."

"That's right. EVERYTHING~" Izumi's sinister voice spoke up, immediately caused the female brunette to turn around slowly, only to find regret doing so because of a menacing smile that Izumi directed to her.

"I must say, I'm quite intrigued by the song. I wonder what is the song about~ Hm, Hana-chan~?" The moment Izumi started walking towards the brunette, Hanayo knew that a grand chase was about to take place. So, she ran out.

"Nooooooo!" she ran down the hallway as fast as her legs could.

"Come back here! You haven't answered my question yet!" Izumi soon chased after the brunette, leaving the rest of his unit's members behind with Maki in the room.

"Ah, there they go again..." Tsukasa mumbled out while Arashi just let out a sigh. Leo could only babbled on by himself about Izumi's action while Maki still tried to process everything that just happened.

* * *

 **I must say, I love 'Kodoku na Heaven' by Hanayo. The song is just...PERFECT! I know the requester asked for Nawatobi, or I assumed they might want Nawatobi. But since Kodoku na Heaven is the first solo song that came out first, I thought we might as well go with that. And hey, guess what? The meaning of the song does have a point, right~?**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	29. Girls' Talk (μ's and Anzu)

**Coming up next, the 5th request from lychee-ran!**

 **lychee-ran requested =** **Bonding event between Anzu and Muse!**

 **Oh, you know what this means~ When girls grouped up, there's only one thing that came to mind. GIRL'S TALK~!** **°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 28: Girls' Talk (μ's and Anzu)

At some point, Anzu even wondered how she ended up getting herself into her current situation. Moreover, into something that she clearly was not expecting to do. Waiting in front of Honoka's house, she gazed up at the sky as she recalled back to how she ended up where she was.

It happened several days ago, during their school time. Normally on their lunch period, Anzu would either be going around the school, discussing with the teachers about the school's idol unit's activities and reports or, she would be somewhere else, eating her lunch. In her case that time, it was the latter. It was a rare occasion where Anzu would actually have a full free time during lunch break and she was going to make full use of it by simply eating somewhere where she would not be disturbed. Unfortunately, she didn't realized that she was being followed by Honoka and the rest of μ's when she was searching for a secluded place to have her lunch.

The next thing that happened was something that she had not expected.

" _Will you join us in our sleepover this weekend!?"_

Anzu unconciously let out a sigh as she remembered how Honoka suddenly asked that question out of nowhere. Not to mention the other members of μ's also urged her to join, which confused her even more. Even to this moment, she wondered why but dare not to question it now that she had agreed to their invitation.

The sound of a door creaking open caught Anzu's attention as she turned to the side and saw Honoka emerged from the door with her backpack behind her.

"Don't worry mom! I promise I won't cause any trouble! I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!" the ginger-haired female closed the door and turned around, the look of surprised was on her face when she saw Anzu right outside her house.

"Uwah! Anzu-chan, you're here! Did I make you wait too long?" she asked, her previous expression was replaced with a worried one.

"No, not at all." Anzu smiled, shaking her head. Honoka let out a sigh of relief when she heard her answer. She smiled and walked towards Anzu and held her hand, surprising the brunette at the sudden contact.

"That's good to hear. Alright then! Let's go~!" she pulled the brunette along as she took the lead and walked down the sidewalk.

"U-Um, Honoka-chan...?" Anzu couldn't find the words to form as she was still surprised by the ginger-haired female's sudden eagerness. She knew that Honoka was just trying to show the way for her but her fast-paced walk was proving hard for the brunette to catch up. Fortunately, Honoka noticed her struggle and slowed down.

"Oh, sorry about that! I guess I'm just too excited on having this sleepover with you and everyone else~!" she slowed down, giving the brunette sometime to stand right beside her and catching her breath before they resume their walk.

"Hey, Anzu-chan, aren't you excited as well~?" she suddenly asked, leaning closer to the female beside her.

"Huh? Oh, well..." her words dragged off as she wondered. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited. After all, it has been a while since she last had a sleepover with her friends. "I can't say that I'm not. So, yeah. I guess I am a bit excited."

"That's a relief~!" Honoka giggled which also lead Anzu to do the same. The two of them engaged into a conversation, talking about their recent events and such while walking down the sidewalk together. She had to admit. Walking and talking with Honoka felt very pleasant. It was weird but her presence somehow calmed her down.

"By the way, Honoka-chan." Anzu spoke up. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, we're going to Maki-chan's house."

"Maki-chan?"

"Yeah! We've decided to have our sleepover at Maki-chan's place."

"I...see." Anzu was worried. She was worried that she may have troubled the red-haired female's parents over their presence in their house.

"Does her parents know of our arrival for this sleepover? I mean, we are pretty much taking shelter at their house for the night..." the brunette asked, slightly worried. Honoka only laughed before shaking her head.

"No silly~! We're not going to her actual house. We're going to one of her parent's vacation house~!" Honoka answered, smiling at the brunette, leaving the brunette in a state of shocked.

"Huh?"

* * *

"And we're here~! Come on, come on! The others might be inside already!" Honoka went ahead as she skipped towards the front gate to ring the doorbell, leaving behind Anzu as she gazed at the big house with wide eyes. Although Honoka had previously mentioned about Maki's vacation house, she was not expecting a house THAT big. And to think that the whole house will only be occupied by μ's and her through the night. Anzu couldn't help but feel anxious but at the same time, excited.

The sound of the doorbell rang inside the house caught the brunette's attention back as she walked towards Honoka, waiting beside her. Not long after that, the front door opened and Maki came into view.

"Oh, Honoka. And Anzu-senpai too. I'm glad you two made it." the red-haired female smiled as she opened the automatic gate, letting the two arrivals to enter the front yard.

"Is everyone here already?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah, they're already inside. Come on in." Maki lead the way in. Once they were inside, Anzu could only stare in awe as they walked up the stairs and stopping right in front of a door which Anzu assumed as the bedroom. When the door was fully opened, Anzu could see the rest of μ's minding their own business before their attention were directed to them.

"Honoka-chan, Anzu-chan~! You've made it!" Kotori cheered, waving at the two arrivals from her spot on the floor beside Umi.

"Hehe, sorry we're late~" Honoka went and placed down her backpack near the grayish-brown haired female and sat down on the floor as well. Anzu, suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of nervous, sat down near Honoka and Kotori, trying to feel fit in.

"Geez, took you two long enough! And I bet it's because Honoka did a last minute packing, am I right?" Nico pouted, but the teasing tone on her last sentence was a clear sign that she was not entirely upset.

"N-No I'm not! I packed way earlier than just now!"

"So you did just packed your things today?" Umi's question and stern look was enough to push Honoka to a corner as she finally let out a defeat sigh, signaling her surrender as everyone laughed at the ginger-haired female.

"Alright girls. What matters is that we're all here right now." Eli stood up from the bed, catching everyone's attention. "Since it's getting late, why don't we all go and make dinner right now? I'm pretty sure some of us are pretty hungry right now."

As if on cue, someone's stomach grumbled and the direction of the sound came from the bed, where Nico, Hanayo and Rin were sitting together. Everyone looked over at the trio, especially most of their stare went to Nico.

"What!? That was NOT me! I swear!" Nico retorted and everyone's stare went to Hanayo next.

"I-It wasn't me too." the flustered look on the young brunette was suspicious but it also implied that she wasn't lying. Next, they all looked at Rin.

"Wait, what!? I already ate a ramen when I was on my way here! So, it's definitely not me-nyaa!" Rin defended herself from any accusations.

"Actually, it's me." Nozomi raised her hand with an innocent smile on her face. She was right beside Nico, sitting on a chair beside the bed. Right after that, Nico and Nozomi went full-on bickering mode with the former took everything seriously while the latter was playing along with their childish bicker. The sight of the two seniors made everyone laughed, including Anzu. Somehow, she predicted that tonight will be a long night.

* * *

The dinner went smoothly for everyone. Since the girls were the only occupants in the house for the night, they were given full permission from Maki to use the kitchen to their heart's content, much to Hanayo's joy. Both Nico and Hanayo were in charged of cooking for their dinner and it was safe to say that the food were satisfying. It was enough to make everyone full and content once they ate their dinner.

Anzu had to admit, she was having fun. She was worried at first if she somehow couldn't fit in the group since the other girls were from the same unit and she, alone, was just a producer. Even so, everyone was being nice to her. They treated her as if she was a part of their group.

" _There is no μ's, nor a producer while we're in this house. It's just us ordinary girls having a fun sleepover together."_

Eli's sentence made her heart warmed at that moment. It was a happy feeling mixed with gratefulness at how everyone removed that barrier among themselves, including her. The feeling of being treated equally and not as someone to look up just because she held the title as a 'Producer'. She was glad that she joined with them on this night.

"Alright, it's time for the main event~!" Nico suddenly spoke up, standing in the middle of the room as she caught everyone's attention. It was right after their dinner, when everyone had finished cleaning up and setting up their place to sleep in Maki's bedroom when Nico suddenly interrupted everyone.

"What is it, Nico-chan?" Hanayo asked, slightly intrigued. Nico let out a chuckle, placing her hands on her hips.

"It seems like none of you are aware of the real purpose of this sleepover." she said before striking up a pose as well as pointing her fingers at everyone. "A sleepover is not a complete set without a girls' talk between us~!"

"Ohh~!" almost everyone were excited at the suggestion, making Anzu giggled at how cute they were acting.

"I didn't even think of that!" Honoka said, shifting excitedly from her spot on the floor. Kotori, Hanayo and Rin nodded their heads in agreement, smiles adorning their faces.

"Do we have to?" Maki asked as she looked up from her magazine to look at the others.

"Aww, come on! This is a rare chance for all of us to talk about something! You know, like the school, our classmates, our clubmates, the teachers and most importantly, about the boys~!" Nico tried to persuade but Maki didn't seemed to be interested. In fact, at the mention of the boys, Maki rolled her eyes and resumed back to her reading. Umi, on the other hand, flinched when she heard the word but fortunately, no one noticed as she continues to brush her hair.

"Nico, I think that last one only applies to you..." Eli mumbled but it was loud enough for everyone to hear as they laughed at the petite senior.

"Aww, come on! I can't be the only one who thinks about the boys in this school right!? I mean, there must be someone or two who caught your eyes too. Or maybe, someone that you really liked to hang around?" Nico asked, flinging her arms around as she spoke. The only response she got was a blank stare and silence, causing the petite female to frown and looked at a certain young brunette.

"Hanayo! Don't go and stay silent when we all know that you have a crush on that glasses boy!" Nico pointed at the young brunette, causing the mentioned female to jump from her spot.

"N-N-No, t-that's not why-!"

"Huh? Glasses boy?" Anzu asked, quite loud enough for everyone to hear as they directed their stares to her as silence enveloped the whole room.

"Oh yeah, Anzu-chan doesn't know about Hanayo-chan's crush!" Honoka spoke up once all of them realized that Anzu was the only one in the room that doesn't know about Hanayo's crush.

"Who would that be?" once the question left her mouth, both Nozomi and Nico had a sly smile, immediately cautioned the younger brunette of what will took place if she doesn't do anything.

"I-I-It's nothing! It's not someone-!" Hanayo's word were cut off when Nico clamped her mouth shut with a devilish smile as the young brunette tried to struggle out of the petite senior's hold.

"Try and guess, Anzu-chan~?" Nozomi asked, her eyes glinting in a playful manner.

"I...don't know...?" at that point, Anzu wasn't sure if she wanted to simply because she pitied the younger brunette as she continues to struggle out from Nico's hold.

"It's Yuuki Makoto-kun~!" Nozomi blurted out the answer, smiling innocently. From there, everything went quiet, even Hanayo stopped struggling even when Nico had released her hold on her.

"I...I'm done for..." Hanayo's head hung low as she faced the floor, a gloomy aura spreading out of her. Both Eli and Maki gave Nozomi and Nico a look of disapproval respectively before Nico quickly went to console the young brunette.

"Aww, come on Hanayo~! Cheer up! Don't be like that! It's not like Anzu here is going to tell that glasses boy about your crush on him~! In fact," Nico quickly went behind Anzu and placed her hands on both of her shoulders as she held her on the spot. "Anzu might actually be able to help you out!"

"Huh?" everyone said in unison.

"Wait. I can?" Anzu asked, slightly confused. Nico grinned in response to her question.

"Of course! You're Producer right~? That means, you are the key in setting up a good collaboration between units in the Idol Course! Although it's nothing more than just a simple collab between two units, secretly, you're helping us grow closer to our crushes~! Imagine that! 'Anzu the Matchmaker'~! It has a nice ring to it right~?" Nico said, wiggling her eyebrows at the brunette.

"M-Me? As a m-matchmaker?" the brunette was slowly getting freaked out by the petite senior's wild suggestion. The suggestion of using her authority as a Producer to play matchmaking never once crossed her mind and it scared her how Nico had been thinking about it for who knows how long.

"That's right! If you do that, imagine how much you'll make Hanayo happy from that~! Plus me!" Nico urged the brunette, again and again. Anzu was slowly getting dizzy from all the suggestions and persuasions she received from the petite female that she thought she could faint.

Thankfully, Eli stopped her before the worse ever came. By knocking her head with a paper fan.

"You didn't have to hit me that hard~!" Nico exclaimed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes but Eli simply shrugged it off, saying that she deserved it for what she did to Anzu. Feeling slightly guilty over the petite female's condition, Anzu petted lightly on Nico's head where she was hit by the paper fan.

"See? Only Anzu cares about my condition. None of you even care~" Nico leaned closer to the brunette to get a better angle at where Anzu petted her.

"That's because you keep on insisting on making Anzu-senpai doing something ridiculous for your own benefit." Maki said. Right after that, Nico stuck her tongue out at the red-haired female, causing everyone to laugh at the petite senior's childish antics.

"Actually, I really don't mind of the idea of the collaboration between units." Anzu suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. Even Nico was staring at her with wide eyes. Anzu remained silent before speaking up once again, with a smile on her face.

"I mean, if it helps make μ's shine brighter, then I would do it. Even if that's not the case, I would still do it. Because to be honest, the reason why I would is because I liked all of you." she said, smiling at everyone in the room. "I guess it's because of my job as a Producer, that I got to meet everyone. Trickstar, μ's and every other units. I really liked all of you. In fact, you could say I admired you guys."

"Anzu-chan..."

"Singing and dancing at the same time on the stage, in front of many people is not easy. If I were you, I'd be shaking on my knees. That, and given the fact I can't dance and sing like anyone else. That's why I admired all of you. You guys shined brightly when you're performing on stage. And I want to support all of you. And if by any chance I can help you and the others shine together on the stage, I'm willing to do anything for that!" her resolve left everyone speechless as they stared at her with surprise. She could see in both Hanayo and Rin's eyes that they were slightly shining while Maki looked at her with a bit of admiration. Umi and Kotori slowly had a smile on their face along with Eli, Nozomi and Nico. As for Honoka...

"Anzu-chan~!" Honoka suddenly pounced on Anzu, causing both her and the brunette to fall backward. Unfortunately, Nico was also dragged backwards from the lunged as the three of them fell down on the floor.

"H-Honoka-chan!?" Kotori called out, worried over her condition.

"Honoka, what are you doing!?" Umi scolded but the ginger-haired female paid no attention.

"That's right! Were you trying to kill us!?" Nico exclaimed once she recovered herself from the fall. Once Anzu also recovered herself, she found Honoka still attached to her, trembling a little as she hugged her tightly.

"Anzu-chan, you're so nice!" looking up to stare at the brunette, Honoka gave her the biggest smile. "Although you're just a new student, and when we just met each other this year! You're willing to do all of those for our sake! For μ's and every other units! I have no words to say but thank you! Thank you for being the best Producer, and for being a friend!"

"Honoka-chan..." Anzu was left speechless as she continues to stare at the ginger-haired female. Looking up, she saw the rst of μ's smiling at her as they nodded their heads. Looking back at Honoka, she smiled as well. "Thank you. Of course, I'll do my best!"

Upon hearing her answer, Honoka grinned and finally let go of her hold on her.

"Alright~! Talking about singing makes me want to sing too~!"

"Ah, I feel the same way-nyaa!"

"Me too~!" Kotori raised her hand up in agreement.

"Count me in!" Nozomi also raised her hands before everyone did the same. Which leaves Anzu the only one without raising her hand.

"Anzu too! You should sing with us~!" Honoka said.

"M-Me? B-But I can't-" she held up her hands in front of her, waving slightly to refuse the offer.

"Don't worry!" the ginger-haired female sat down beside the brunette and linked her hand with hers, gripping it tight before looking at her straight in the eyes. "I know you can do it."

Without even given the chance to speak up, her other hand was also linked with someone else. Turning to the side, it was Nico who was holding her other hand. It took her a moment to realize that everyone were linking their hands together in a circle as they sat down on the floor. Turning back to the other side, she saw Honoka giving a reassurance smile to her as if to tell her that everything will be alright. Slowly, she could feel a certain feeling of confidence rising up before she smiled at her.

"I'll try." she nodded her head.

"Hehe, alright~! Let's sing 'Aishiteru Banzai' together~! In three, two, one! Go~!"

 **All: Cheers for the love!  
All: I'm glad to be here, our present exists right here  
All: Cheers for the love!**

Honoka and the rest of μ's gave her a nod as a sign for her to sing the part.

 **Anzu: It's only just begun, I'm counting on you again tomorrow,**

 **All: we've yet to reach our goal  
**

Everyone began to sing together, swaying slightly to the left and right by following to the rhythm of the song.

 **All: Smile when you're sad, let's blow it all away**  
 **All: If you can laugh, the scenery will change, peeking through the clearing weather**  
 **All: Even when you're unsure, the road leading to happiness**  
 **All: Comes into view under the blue sky**

Some of them leaned their heads to one another as they swayed. Rin and Hanayo shared the contact with each other while Nozomi did to Eli, smiling. Looking at Honoka beside her, Anzu was surprised when Honoka leaned her head to her, making contact to her own head. The action made her heart warmed as she smiled at her.

 **All: Rain falls from time to time but it's harsh without water**  
 **All: Don't wither, nurture everyone's tree of dreams**

 **All: Now!**  
 **All:Cheers for loving you!**  
 **All:With the courage to never give up, let's enjoy the present**  
 **All: Cheers for loving you!**  
 **All: We can do our best so wave goodbye to yesterday and look forward**

 **All: La la la, la la la la la la la~**

As they all continue to sing, Anzu couldn't stop herself from smiling. The thought of thinking how μ's and the other units would be from now made her heart fluttered in excitement. It was safe to say that she was excited of what the future would hold for all of them.

* * *

 **And we're done. Well, damn! How long did this even took me to finish? Geez, I'm so sorry guys for making you wait! Because I really suck at updating fast! But anyway! GIRLS' MOMENT~! You know, I may have accidentally teased a Honoka X Anzu in there. Muahahaha~! Sorry, not sorry!**

 **BTW, for the newest review by SweetHoneyBee! About your request, no worries~! I have take note~! The requests are still open and I still have others to finish up too! I hope you can be patient until then!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	30. BUSTED! (Nico & Class 3B)

**Coming up next, the 6th request, from N/A (literally~!)**

 **N/A requested = S** **ome people in Nico's class seeing her outside of school wearing that getup she has in the anime-the one where she wears black sunglasses, a pink scarf, and a hospital mask, and wondering if it's really her or not.**

 **Huhu, finally, focusing on someone else other than Hanayo~! No, I don't mean it as an offensive! Anyway, looks like this time, we'll be looking from another perspective~**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 29: BUSTED! (Nico and Class 3B)

"Nito-kun, if you truly are worried, why not just go and talk to her?" Hibiki nudged the blond male beside him as they hid behind a brick pillar, catching people's attention around them.

"But what if it's not her?" Nazuna replied, the frown on his face was enough to tell how worried and frustrated he was at the moment.

"You know, we shouldn't even be hiding like this. People are going to think that we're plotting something..." Kuro spoke up from behind the two previous students. Unlike Nazuna and Hibiki, Kuro was the only one standing properly behind the pillar, watching people passing by while keeping an eye on his two classmates. It was easy to be caught acting suspicious when they were in town right after school session ended.

"But doesn't this feels 'fun'? It's like 'playing' hide-and-seek game~" Kanata spoke up this time, hiding under Nazuna as he also peered out from behind the pillar and watching at the direction where Nazuna and Hibiki were watching. "Too bad Rei couldn't 'join' us."

"Heyyyyyyyyyyy..." a sulking voice spoke up from behind them, catching all of their attention. Glancing behind them, they saw Leo staring at them with a sulking face. "How long are we going to stay out here~? I thought you said this was supposed to be a class outing. And yet, we're just standing here, doing nothing..."

The sight of Leo pouting made all of them chuckle. What he said was true. Initially, the reason why they were all together in the first place was because they planned on having an outing between them. Of course, not all of them were there.

Tsumugi had to refuse due to the Handicraft Club holding a meeting despite the school mentioning that there were no club activities for today. Rei has never been the type to walk outside when the sun was still up in the sky. He tried. Taking a couple of steps outside the school building to try and adjusted himself with the sunlight. Not even 5 seconds and he immediately passed out.

Then there was Nico, who for once, didn't joined them on their outing. Nico had never been the type to reject an invitation to go out with Nazuna. Even if she had to go through it with others' company. Be it his friends, her friends or even a stranger if she had to. She would always follow the blond male whenever she found an opportunity. But this time, it was different.

" _I-I'm sorry, Nazuna-kun! I really, REALLY wanted to go with you, especially since you asked me and all but, I can't today! Sorry!"_

Nazuna involuntarily let out a sigh as he recalled back the previous event that had took place in their class. He had always thought Nico would agree to anything that he asked or offered to her. To think that she would reject his invitation, it was safe to say that he wasn't expecting it. Instead of her usual happy-beyond-words expression, she gave him a nervous and troubled look. That, plus with the fact that she was rushing back home only made him worried about the female.

Even so, they proceed with their plan with only 5 of them. Surprisingly, after they've arrived in town and hanging around from places to places, an unexpected event happened. An event which was happening right in front of their eyes. Someone who looked like Nico was spotted in the shopping district and Nazuna's suspicion began to grew.

Thus, here they were. Standing behind a pillar, watching the familiar-looking female standing in front of the music store as she stared at the posters that were pasted on the wall beside it.

"But I have to say, whoever that is, they sure tried too hard not to look suspicious at all." Hibiki said and as if on cue, everyone's eyes went to the female's figure. From there, they all agreed with Hibiki's statement. A jacket, a pink scarf, a face mask and a black sunglasses was enough to attract attention in public despite the fact she probably wore them to hide her identity.

Nazuna let out a sigh before he turned around and smiled at the others.

"You know what, maybe we should just go after all..." Nazuna finally decided on his decision, surprising everyone.

"Oh, are you sure about that? This may be your last chance to confirm it~!" Hibiki asked, the teasing tone in his voice sounded very obvious.

"You made it sound like it's not very important at all..." Kuro mumbled.

"But why, Nazuna? Don't you want to 'know' who that is?" Kanata asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. Nazuna remained silent before he took a glance at the female once again. The female finally went inside the store, her figure disappeared from view. Nazuna shook his head, the smile remained on his face.

"It's fine. Even if it is her or not, I don't want to bother her. Besides, this is Nico-chin we're talking about. Even she has something that she'd probably don't want others to see."

The others looked at each other before they smiled as well. The words that came out from Nazuna's mouth were true. No matter how close they were for the past 3 years, there were times where she preferred to be all by herself. Even he knew that Nico wanted some time alone from others.

"Ah~! As expected of Nito-kun! Your kindness knows no bounds! This is indeed, the sweetest relationship between childhood friends I've ever saw~ How _amazing_ ~!" Hibiki posed dramatically, swinging an arm out as he directed it at Nazuna, earning questioning glances from his friends as well as the people walking nearby.

"You're over-exaggerating, Wataru-chin. We're just close friends after all." Nazuna said almost casually without even realizing his own words. Only Hibiki himself seemed to be taken surprised by his words.

"Ah, it seems like even I can't help you with this 'dense' problem, Nico-chan..." Hibiki mumbled, looking away from everyone as he turned his back from them. It caught everyone's attention but they've decided to ignore due to Hibiki's common eccentric behaviour.

"Alright, I think it's about time we continue our previous- Huh?" even before Nazuna could even finished his sentence, he began looking around, searching for someone.

"What's wrong, Nito?" Kuro asked, as he looked around as well.

"Uh, actually... Where's Leo-chin?"

"Ah, if it's about Leo, he went to that 'store'." Kanata pointed at the same music store where the previous female entered. Nazuna's face was slowly turning white at the sudden news as he began panicking.

"Ahh! Why didn't you stopped him!?" he asked the blue-haired male. Kanata exchanged look between Nazuna and the store before looking at the blond male once again.

"Oh..."

* * *

"Hmhm~ Since we're here and all, might be a good idea to browse through some some CDs here. I wonder if they have any good songs~" Leo entered the music store as soon as the automatic glass door opened for him.

He was both tired and bored of waiting. He wasn't really paying attention to what his classmates were talking about but it seemed to be taking a while. So, he decided to go to the music store they were staring at before. It was the only music store nearby. He knew for sure Kuro would dragged him back to the others if he were to stray away too far so he decided to go into this store they've been looking at. Plus, they can just walked inside here once they're done with whatever they were talking about.

Leo walked around the store, searching for anything that may caught his interest. Right when he was about to turn around the corner around the shelf, someone suddenly appeared in front of him and both of them bumped into each other.

"Ouch!" the person in front of him staggered backwards. Leo recognized the person as a female based on the high-pitched voice and the appearance.

"Oops, sorry about that. Are you alright-" Leo stopped his sentence when he got a view a the female's face in front of him. "Nico?"

The female in front of him froze on the spot when Leo spoke the name. Slowly, she raised her head to make eye contact and soon enough, she regretted it.

"Gehh!" the female flinched as she backed away from the orange-haired male.

"Oh~? If it isn't Twintails~! What are you doing here?" Leo asked, coming closer to the petite female while Nico, with her disguised had been seen through, slowly backed away from the orange-haired male.

"Y-Y-Y-You're mistaken! I think you got the wrong person here!"

"Don't be ridiculous~! I know it's you, Twintails! I recognized this hairstyle anywhere!" Leo grabbed both of Nico's twintail hair, moving them slightly as to emphasize his statement.

"Uwahh! What are you doing!? Let go you idiot-Leo!" Nico gripped both his arms to pry the orange-haired male's hand away from her hair.

"See~? You know my name! This is definitely you, Twintails~!"

"Leo-chin!" a familiar voice called out from the entrance as Nico immediately froze on her spot.

"T-That voice..." she stuttered.

"Ooh! Hey guys, look who I found~!" Leo waved his hands with both his hands still holding on to Nico's twintail. Nico turned around slowly before her eyes landed on a group that she was familiar with. Surely enough, it was the rest of her classmates as they stood there in front of her. Her hands, which was gripping Leo's arms previously, slowly slid down. A paper bag that was hooked in her arm fell down to the floor. Idol CDs and Live Concert DVDs were exposed from the paper bag as everyone stared it on the floor.

"Ahh..." Nico's head hung low as she felt her spirit leaving her body. "I've been busted..."

* * *

~ Extra ~

"Ahahahaha~! Who would have though that Twintails actually collected Idols' CDs? And even Live Concert DVDs? You're really interesting, Twintails~!" Leo spoke up, laughing at the petite female in front of him as they all walked together to go home.

"Shut up!" Nico glared at the orange-haired male before she quickens her pace, leaving everyone behind although they easily caught up to her soon enough.

"Now, now, Nico-chan. There's no need to be embarrassed about it. I mean, it's normal for girls to support the Idols they admired. Although, you, yourself are considered Idol too." Hibiki said, giving a knowing smile at the petite female. Nico puffed out her cheeks before looking back at the front, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Nico-chin, please don't be mad." Nazuna spoke up, walking beside her once he caught up to her walking pace. He smiled before he leaned closer. "Hey, how about we watched the live concerts together? Since you've bought it and everything, you can tell me about that Idol group."

Almost instantly, Nico turned back into her usual happy, cheery self.

"Hehe, sure! Anything for you, Nazuna-kun~!"

"Ooh~! Are we watching together!? Yay~! Let's crash over at Twintail's house and watched it together~!" Leo suddenly spoke up, ruining Nico's mood almost effectively.

"Oh, that sounds 'fun'. Watching 'together' with everyone will be very 'fun'~" Kanata nodded his head in agreement followed by Hibiki's laugh.

"Yes, spending the rest of our outing time at Nico-chan's house sounds good~ Let us go now, and have an _amazing_ time together, shall we~?"

"WHO SAID I'M INVITING THE REST OF YOU GUYS!?" Nico snapped.

* * *

 **Poor Nico. Not only she got busted but now she had to deal with Leo and Hibiki's constant teasing from now on. ┐(´∇** **)┌**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	31. Costume Collaboration? (Handicraft Club)

**Coming up next, the 7th request, from X3~!**

 **X3 requested = M** **ore Handicraft Club shenanigans.**

 **Something that I also had in mind~! Thankfully you wanted a Handicraft Club and thus, I present you this chapter~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 30: Costume Collaboration? (Handicraft Club)

The moment Anzu entered the Handicraft Club, she was immediately met with a surprising sight. It was a sight that she had never expected to see. It was the sight of Kotori wearing [Valkyrie]'s unit costume.

"Ah, Anzu-chan! Great timing~!" Kotori waved an arm as she called out to the brunette female when she saw her entered the room.

"Hey, hey. Don't move, Kotori-chan...! I'm tryin' to tie the ribbon here." Mika said in a light stern tone as he gripped her waving arm and pushed it down on her lap. He was standing behind Kotori while the grayish-brown haired female was sitting in front of him.

"Oops, forgot about that. Hehe~" Kotori giggled as she remained still in her seat in front of Mika as the mismatched-eyes male resumed his previous work, tying a ribbon on her hair and putting accessories on her. Anzu remained speechless as she eyed Kotori from head to toe.

"Kotori-chan...? Why are you wearing..." Anzu couldn't even finished her sentence and Shu started chuckling.

"It certainly catches your eyes, doesn't it? Well, it's normal that a costume made by me would captured people's eyes. No one can ever take their eyes off from such beauty." Shu spoke up with a proud tone, crossing his arms as he held his head high. Anzu could only laughed nervously at the older senior.

"So, what's the occasion?" she asked, looking at the grayish-brown haired female. Kotori giggled before she replied.

"Well, you see~ Since I'm [Valkyrie]'s sub-producer, I think it's pretty normal for me to support them right? Even if I'm not from the same unit, that doesn't mean I can't right~? So I thought, I might as well give them a hand, by promoting [Valkyrie]'s unit with this~" Kotori gestured to the costume she was wearing.

Anzu took the chance to take another quick look at the costume she wore. It was indeed the same costume as [Valkyrie]'s unit costume. They had the same style and even the same colour scheme. Except, she had a long skirt instead of pants and adorned a couple of ribbons tied at the waist and her hair.

"I...see." Anzu said as she saw Mika finished putting the final touch before he let her go. Kotori twirled in front of a mirror to take a look at the costume before she smiled at Anzu and walked towards her.

"Hey, Anzu-chan. Can I wore this to advertise [Valkyrie] in a photoshoot?" Kotori suggested, leaning closer to the brunette with an eager look on her face.

"Well, you can but..." Anzu stopped for a moment before she continues. "You do remember that you have to do it together with your unit to promote or advertise something right?"

Only then, Kotori was struck by the sudden realization. What Anzu had said was true. Among all units in Yumenosaki, μ's was the most successful unit to promote an event or anything in school. Since they were the only female unit in Yumenosaki, it was inevitable that they were going to attract most of people's attention, either inside the school or outside. So the teachers took that chance to make μ's as the main promoter for school events or any idol-related works.

"Oh, that's right..." Kotori began to think as her mind wandered off. Shu, however, took this chance to spoke up.

"Hmph, if that's the case, I'll just have to do more [Valkyrie]'s costumes for the rest of them to wear! Then, we'll have no problem with it. Right?" Shu asked, his arrogance began to surface as he eyed Anzu.

"I...don't think that's kind of fair..."

"What's not fair 'bout it?" Mika asked, slightly intrigued.

"Well, Kotori-chan wanted to do this because she is [Valkyrie]'s sub-producer. But the other girls are also a sub-producer for other units. So, isn't it unfair to ask them to promote a unit that is not under their care?" the brunette explained.

"Hmph, foolish little girl. There's no need to care about other units. Minami was the first to introduce the idea to us. So, we [Valkyrie] have the the right to do so first! Like the saying goes, 'First come, first serve' is it not?" Shu said, the proud look began to resurface on his face. Anzu could only let out a sigh as she knew that it was hard to convince the older senior otherwise. But then...

"Oh! I know what we should do~!" Kotori suddenly spoke up, catching everyone's attention.

"What is it?" Anzu asked.

"Since we have to do it as a unit, how about making the rest of them promote their own units~?" Kotori asked, almost as eager as before. At that point, Shu was already taken aback by the idea as he froze on his spot.

"Oh, that's a good idea! Now that sounds fair!" Anzu agreed, a smile appearing on her face. It was also a good counter to Shu's statement and Anzu knew that he would have trouble to deny it.

"Right~? Is that fine with you guys?" Kotori asked as she eyed the two males in the room. Mika just shrugged his shoulders while Shu still remained frozen.

"As long as Kotori-chan 's on our side, I'm okay with it." Mika said, earning a smile from the grayish-brown haired female while the mismatched-eyes male grinned.

"Fool!" Shu spoke up, surprising everyone as they stared at the pink-haired male. "This was supposed to be [Valkyrie]'s grand exposure to the public! Not for other big units out there to steal the spotlight from us!"

"Itsuki-senpai..." Kotori walked closer to the male with a sad look on her face.

"Pretty please~?" she gave him her biggest puppy-eyes at the male, surprising the senior as well as froze him instantly. The pink-haired male remained silent for a long time before he slowly turned away.

"You'll pay for that one day..." Shu admitted defeat as he slumped back to his seat.

"Thank you, Itsuki-senpai~!"

"How scary..." both Anzu and Mika said in unison. Apparently, Shu was very weak to Kotori's puppy eyes, making it impossible for him to deny or reject her requests.

'Might be useful to take a note on that...' Anzu thought.

"So then, maybe I should get started on making the costumes! Oh, but then, I'll have to inform the others about it. Then, I'll have to discuss with the other units about the costumes collaboration. Let's see, Kiryu-senpai can help me with Umi-chan's costume, Hajime-kun with Nico-chan, Arashi-chan with Hanayo-chan..." from there, Kotori went into her dreamland mode as she began talking to herself.

"Fufufu~! I can't wait to work with everyone in making the costumes~! Ehehe, just imagine everyone wearing different units' costumes~! I bet they would look so amazing in it~" she said to no one, giggling and mumbling to herself. Anzu and Mika could only looked at her with worried eyes. Anzu was glad that she was so into it but there was one other thing that bothered her.

"Um, Kotori-chan? I know that you're excited about the idea but..." Anzu spoke up, immediately snapped the grayish-brown haired female back to reality.

"What is it, Anzu-chan?"

"What about the unit [Switch]?" Anzu asked. Silence filled the room but then Kotori gave her a big smile.

"Oh, that's easy~!" she went towards Anzu and placed both her hands on her shoulders. "Anzu-chan will be the one to promote them~!"

"Ehhh!?" Anzu shrieked, too surprised by the simple conclusion made by the grayish-brown haired female. Even Mika and Shu were looking at her in disbelief. To make things worst, someone unexpected entered the room at the same time.

"I'm back! I'm sorry for taking so long..." Tsumugi panted before he closed the door. Apparently he was running all the way to the club room as he wiped the sweats away from his forehead.

"Tsumugi-senpai, great timing~!" Kotori immediately went towards the new arrival and placed both her hands on both his shoulders, just like she did to Anzu previously.

"Can I ask for your help to make a [Switch]'s unit costume for Anzu-chan?" she asked the dark, blue-haired senior with eager and excited look. Once again, the whole room went silent as they processed what Kotori had asked.

"Ehhh~!?" Tsumugi paled by the sudden request. Even Mika and Shu was taken aback by the grayish-brown haired female's directness. Anzu let out a sigh as she watched the whole scene in front of her, wondering at the same time on how she ended up getting herself involved in it.

* * *

 **Kotori used 'Puppy Eyes', it's super effective! Ahahaha~! I bet all of you thought of that scene where she did that to Umi. Pretty funny to be honest~! So, yeah. Kotori in [Valkyrie]'s unit costume while the other girls in the other units' costume. That'll be fun to imagine~ Poor Anzu though, getting dragged into the mess for no reason~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	32. Costume Collaboration? Part 2! (μ's)

**Do you remembered the last chapter? Costume collaboration? Well, I've decided to do an extra chapter of that request! Since we've seen how Kotori reacted to her [Valkyrie] costume, let's see how the others reacted to it, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 30: Costume Collaboration? Part 2 (μ's and other units)

The day has finally come for μ's to do their photoshoot, by wearing the costumes from the units they represented for. Kotori was excited as she sat on one of an empty chair, waiting for her friends to show up once they've changed into the costumes she worked with the other costume designers. She had just finished doing her photoshoot session with [Valkyrie]'s costume. Both Shu and Mika were also there to help and cheered for her. Although the former were more into ordering her around rather than cheering.

But Kotori didn't mind. It was tiring, that was for sure. But the thought of seeing her friends in the costumes she collaborated with the others made her heart fluttered and her previous fatigue from the photoshoot immediately disappeared.

* * *

~ With [Trickstars] ~

"Honoka-chan~ Are you still changing...?" Subaru whined as he leaned his head to the door while knocking it several times.

"J-Just a little more! I'm almost done! So wait for a while, okay?" Honoka answered from inside the room that Subaru was leaning on its' door.

"You've been saying that for the past few minutes before!" the orange-haired male whined as he continues to knock on the door, this time, softly and repetitive. Meanwhile, Hokuto and Mao let out a long sigh and Makoto could only let out a nervous laugh.

They've been waiting for almost 20 minutes for the ginger-haired female to come out, and even now, she still remained inside. Subaru has reached past his point of boredom while the others continues to wait patiently. Although, watching the orange-haired male whining did affected them in certain way.

"Hmm, maybe she had trouble with the costume?" Makoto asked, trying to push away his boredom as he brought up a conversation, exchanging looks between his friends.

"I don't think that's possible. Minami was the one who made the costume with Anzu and surely both of them made it with the correct size." Hokuto crossed his arms as he stared at the door. "I just don't understand how long it took for her to change..."

"You can say that again..." Mao let out a sigh as he leaned on the wall beside the door, with his arms crossed behind his head. "Man, I know girls takes a long time to prepare and everything, but I didn't know it would take THIS long..."

"I HEARD THAT!" Honoka retorted from inside, surprising everyone from her sudden voice. Suddenly, the door opened widely, causing Subaru to almost fall face-flat on the floor but thanks to his fast reflex, he managed to regain his balance and backed away safely.

"Geez, you guys are too impatient!" Honoka placed both of her hands on her hips, puffing her cheeks as she frowned at them. However, after noticing the silence and the stares she received from the boys, she immediately felt nervous.

"W-What? Is something wrong?" she asked, suddenly feeling timid.

The boys didn't stopped staring at her. It wasn't intentional but they couldn't help themselves. She was wearing [Trickstar]'s unit costume except the colour of her costume was orange and instead of wearing a pants, she wore a skirt that had the same matching pattern as the jacket. She also had her own orange colour strap at her left side as well as the golden belts and their trademark star symbol at the side.

The sight of Honoka in their unit's costume somehow surprised them. Although they knew from the start that she was going to wear them for the photoshoot, they weren't expecting how she would looked like when she finally wore them. Hokuto, Makoto and Mao continues to stare while Subaru kept on gawking at her.

"I-I knew it... It doesn't suit me after all..." Honoka slumped her head down, her confidence were slowly fading out. As soon as she said that, all of them panicked as they thought they had made her upset.

"N-No, no, no, no, no! That's not it! It's just...we were surprised, that's all." Makoto reassured the female. After a long silence, Honoka finally looked up to meet his gaze.

"Really...?" she asked, slightly embarrassed as she twiddled her fingers.

"Really! I mean, you looked great. It kind of suits you, to be honest~" Makoto nodded his head, smiling at her.

"Huh, I have to agree with Makoto on that. You looked good." Mao smiled at the ginger-haired female. The compliments she received from both Makoto and Mao made her blush. Slowly, she felt her confidence coming back.

"Ahaha, you think so?" she scratched the back of her head in a shy manner.

"Yep, it's true~!" Subaru finally spoke up, leaning closer to the ginger-haired female as he stared at her. "I couldn't help but stare at you since you were sparkling all over~"

"Somehow, you made that sound REALLY creepy..." Mao said, eying the orange-haired male in a suspicious manner. His statement made everyone laughed as they finally got Honoka back to her usual self.

"Well, I'm glad it looks okay on me. I was worried that I might looked weird in it... But, I guess I was just over-thinking it~" she said, smiling at the rest of them. It was then she realized that Hokuto had been silent for a long time and she turned and faced him.

"Hokuto-kun, what do you think?" she emphasized the costume as she stared at him. Her questioned snapped him from his daze as he stared back at her. Not long after that, he finally spoke up.

"Well, it looks fine." he said. "But you're missing something important."

Everyone looked at the leader of [Trickstar] with questioning looks. Without saying a word, Hokuto went towards the ginger-haired female and stood in front of her, making Honoka anxious and nervous.

"Thankfully, I brought it with me." he said as he fished out something from his pant's pocket. Pulling out from it, it was revealed to be [Trickstar]'s unit necklace, with the word TS hanging from it. Without wasting time, he placed the necklace around her neck and backed away to give another look at her.

"There. Now you looked better. You can't go and promote [Trickstar] without wearing that as our symbol now, can you?" Hokuto smiled with his arms crossed. Honoka looked at the necklace before a smile crept up on her face. Looking back up at the black-haired male, she smiled.

"Thank you, Hokuto-kun!" she nodded her head while Hokuto nodded his head in response.

"Ooh~ Hokke, are you flirting with her~?" Subaru butted in as he stared at Hokuto with eyes twinkling. Unfortunately, Subaru's question only ruined the happy atmosphere as Hokuto went and chased after him as the orange-haired male ran for his life, leaving behind Honoka, Mao and Makoto in the hallway.

* * *

~ With [fine] ~

In another area, the members of [fine] were also waiting outside a locked room. Eli was currently changing into [fine]'s unit costume at the moment as the others talked amongst themselves to pass the time. Not long after that, the door to the room opened and Eli came out while wearing the costume.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked. She was wearing the exact same uniform as [fine]'s unit costume – a white tuxedo shirt and a dark blue vest with blue tie. She also had a ribbon tied to the side of her head. However, instead of wearing white suit pants, she wore a fishtail skirt and she also wore white high-heel shoes to match the colours.

"Ah! Such beauty! Such grace! As expected of Eli-san, your beauty matches the costume and thus, improving your appearance ten times better~!" Hibiki flailed his arms to the blond female, causing her to laughed lightly from the male's over-dramatic compliment.

"Wow~! Eli-senpai, you looked beautiful~!" Tori immediately clung himself onto the blond female, giggling at the same time. Eli also giggled along with the young male as she pet the pink-haired male's head.

"Now, now, young master. It would be best not to ruin Ayase-sama's costume right after she just changed. It would be a shame if that were to happen now, wouldn't it?" Yuzuru said, earning a disapproval look from Tori.

"Boo~! You can't just tell me not to appreciate Eli-senpai's looks in [fine]'s costume! She looks perfect in it!" Tori glared at his servant before turning his head to the leader of their unit, changing his expression almost immediately into a smile. "Right, President?"

Everyone looked at their leader, Eichi as he stood there with a smile on his face.

"As I expected, you looked wonderful in it, Eli-san." he nodded his head. "Which brings me to ask you again."

"Are you not going to consider joining [fine] at this point?" he asked, almost blatantly with a smile on his face. However, that innocent smile only made everyone looked at him in disbelief. He had been asking the same question again and again even before she changed into the uniform.

"Eichi-kun, you've asked me that for like, 10 times already... And my answer remains the same..." Eli looked at him with tired eyes, crossing her arms as a sign of disapproval of the male's persistent.

"Wow, the President doesn't gave up that easy huh?" Tori gazed at their leader with a surprised look but at the same, in awe as well.

"Indeed..."

"As expected of our Emperor~! He never lose his sight on something! It is truly, _amazing_ ~!" Hibiki said, laughing afterward as the others soon joined in.

* * *

~ With [UNDEAD] ~

"Aww, come on. I'm not going to do anything. I promise." Kaoru put up both of his hands in front of him in defense. Maki had just finished changing but once she went out of the room, she immediately went behind Adonis, hiding from the flirt.

"Really... You've been hiding behind Adonis-kun ever since then... It feels like my opportunity to get closer to you is growing impossible..." Kaoru crossed his arms, pouting slightly.

"Of course she does! You've been doing nothing but flirted with her all this time!" Koga barked at Kaoru, annoyed with the flirt's behaviour. Kaoru gave the grey-haired male a disapproval look before he shook his head, ignoring Koga's rude remark.

"Are you okay?" Adonis asked the red-haired female behind him, tilting his head slightly at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I know I won't be if I'm not careful around him..." Maki continues to watch the blond male with cautious eyes. Kaoru noticed her stare and put on a hurtful look.

"Hmm, all I wanted was to be friends with you... So why don't we try and get along for now~?" he quickly made his way to Adonis and Maki but the purple-haired male already went into a defence stance, blocking the flirt's way from going behind him. The two of them were going at it for a long time while Maki continues standing behind Adonis in a safe distance.

"Now, now. I'm happy to see all of us are getting along just nice but I'm afraid we're out of time and in need of hurry to the Studio Room." Rei spoke up, catching everyone's attention to the older senior. "Since you've changed and all, Maki-chan, how is the costume?"

Everyone's attention went to the red-haired female as she looked at herself. She wore the same costume as [UNDEAD]'s costume – a fur-lined jacket with half sleeves, a short dark grey shirt that exposed her midriff, a dark grey belt with a golden buckle and also a dark grey pants. She also had the same dark grey bandanna with golden beaded chains hanging at the side. As for the accessory, she wore a bat-shaped necklace, as a symbol for their unit. Just like the rest of them, she also had the same black peaked cap.

"Well, I think it's fine. It fits and everything." she said, smiling at the older senior as she crossed her arms.

"Haha, as expected, you looked good in it." Kaoru complimented the red-haired female, causing her to look at him suspiciously but because of the blush that was creeping up to her face, she had to look away.

"J-Just because you've said that, doesn't mean I'm going to let you have your way..."

"Aww, that's too bad~" Maki flinched when she heard his voice near her. By the time she looked up, Kaoru was already petting her head through the cap. "I guess, it's true. You're really cute when you're embarrassed~"

In no time, Maki immediately went and hid behind Koga next, causing the flirt to laugh while the red-haired female glared at him. Even Adonis was surprised by how the flirt managed to break through his defence.

"And there you are, hiding behind Koga next. I swear, this game never ends..." Kaoru feigned a hurtful look but the smile on his face was telling otherwise, like he was playing around with her.

"Oh, for God's sake, you're annoying! Come on, we're leaving!" Koga spoke up, equally irritated like Maki as he pushed the red-haired female down the hallway with the flirt chasing after them and continues to pester the duo, mainly Maki all the time. Only Rei and Adonis remained on the spot as they looked at the trio ahead.

"I swear, these kids just love to play around..." Rei let out a sigh as he watched them walked away while Adonis looked at him in a questioning manner.

"They are?" he asked.

"Oi, Adonis! A little help here!?" Koga's voice called out for the purple-haired male from further ahead. Shaking his head, Rei soon followed after the rest with Adonis walking behind him.

* * *

~ With [2wink] ~

"Are you ready-nyaa~?" Rin asked from behind the door, her eager and excited tone could be heard through the door. Hinata and Yuta were both standing outside with an equally excited expression on their faces.

"Ready~!" both of them answered in unison. Not soon after that, Rin opened the door and did a flip as she landed right in the middle of the hallway, turning around and posed the exact same pose as [2wink] always did in front of the twins.

"Ta-da~! It's a brand new look of Hoshizora Rin, representing [2wink]~! Nice too meet you-nyaa~!" she made a cat-posed gesture next with a smile.

"Whoa~" both of them clapped their hands in awe. Rin grinned as looked back at her uniform. She was wearing the same sleeveless, high collared vest like [2wink]'s uniform except her colour was yellow which is her main colour in μ's. She also wore the same harem pants in the same colour, along with a yellow high top sneakers and wrist bands. Just like [2wink], Rin also have her own headphones which is a pair of cat-ear headphones in yellow with black and white accents.

"Hehehe, so? How do I look?" Rin asked, her eyes twinkling in excitement.

"You looked awesome!" Hinata jumped in joy before putting his arm around her shoulder, grinning at the orange-haired female before Yuta spoke up next.

"Double awesome!" Yuta also placed an arm around Rin from the other side as the three of them locked in a tight group hug, laughing together as they made their way to the Studio Room.

* * *

~ With [Knights] ~

Arashi's smile was growing wider and wider as times passed by. His expression was safe to say, _scared_ Izumi.

"Will you stop smiling like that? You're creeping me out..." he muttered with his arms crossed as he stared at the blond male. Arashi turned around almost immediately to face him and smiled even wider and brighter than before.

"But Izumi-chan! I can't help it! Just imagining Hana-chan in the costume both me and Kotori-chan made is making my heart flutters in excitement~! Now, I get to see her wear it in front of me! It's like a dream come true~!" Arashi explained giddily, his happiness couldn't be contained at that point as he continues to wait in front of the door.

"Creep..." Izumi mumbled before letting out a sigh. However, Arashi's excitement made Leo laughed as he was affected by the excitement coming from the blond male.

"Ahahahaha~! I don't know what's so exciting but seeing you excited is making me excited as well! Ahahahahahaha~!" his laugh grew louder as seconds passed by.

"Now you're just too excited!" Izumi glared at their King but Leo wasn't even fazed by the glare the grey-haired male sent towards him.

"Leader, please. You're making a ruckus just by laughing out loud. Please calm yourself down." Tsukasa was the next to speak up, holding up one hand as he pressed it against his ear to block out the orange-haired male's loud voice.

"Yes, please do. I can't even sleep properly out here." Ritsu spoke up, however, in his current situation, it doesn't seemed like he was affected nor bothered by Leo's laugh. He was sitting down on the floor, leaning his upper body on the wall with eyes closed in a calm and composed manner.

"Oi, Kuma-kun, don't sit down on the floor! It's dirty! And why didn't you just stay at the Studio Room if you were that tired?" Izumi crossed his arms, looking at the sleepy male with disapproval look.

"It's not like I can sleep in peace when everyone is going to use the room for the photoshoot..." letting out a yawn, he closed his eyes back, blocking out all the environments around him as he resumed back to his sleep.

"He has a point..." Arashi said, looking at the sleeping male.

"U-Um..." a voice caught everyone's attention as they stared at the owner of the voice coming out from the room. Hanayo peeked her head out with a nervous look on her face as she stared at the rest of them.

"Oh, how is it? Come on, show us~" Arashi beckoned her to come out from her hiding. Hanayo was hesitating but she gathered all of her courage to go out with the costume she wore.

She had the same costume as [Knights] – the same navy blue, white, and gold jacket and a black shirt underneath. The same four thin golden ropes attached to the collar along with a navy blue and white stripe patterned sash connecting from her left shoulder pad to the bottom right of her jacket. However, instead of wearing a pants , she wore a skirt that parted at the middle in front as it grew longer to the back. Down on her feet, she wore a pair of black high heel boots with golden rim.

"H-H-How...do I looked...?" she asked, her face was growing brighter red as seconds passed by. While the others remained silent as they stared at her, Arashi was the only one who showed expression. An uncontainable expression that was.

"Oh. My. Goodness! You looked perfect~! I knew it would looked good on you! I just knew it!" the blond male hugged the brunette female as tight as he could, almost choking her at the moment.

"So, what do you boys think~? Cute, right~?" he asked, winking at them. Ritsu gave her a thumbs up with a smile while Tsukasa had a blush on his face. That was, until he shook his head to get himself back together.

"I think it looks _marvelous_. Although it's slightly different, it still has the same [Knights] appearance as we have." he complimented the brunette female, causing Hanayo to blush.

"Hmm~" Izumi walked towards her before walking around her figure, watching with sharp eyes as if he was appraising a work of an art. When he finally stopped in front of her, he crossed his arms. "Well, not bad."

"R-Really?" she asked, finding it unbelievable to hear the grey-haired male complimenting her. However, the sight of his smirk made her think otherwise almost immediately.

"I mean, the costume really stand out more than the one who wears it~" it was obvious he was teasing her based on his tone. Plus, the smirk only proved it even more.

'I knew it...' she thought as she let out a nervous laugh. It was not that hard to think that the grey-haired male was messing around with her. In fact, it was pretty obvious that he would do so.

"Izumi-chan!" Arashi glared at him, placing both his hand on his hips.

"Fine, fine. You looked _great_." the way the grey-haired male emphasized the word 'great' made it sound as if he was being sarcastic. Somehow, Hanayo thought his previous comment was better than what she just received. Arashi, on the other hand, pouted while giving a disapproval look at Izumi before turning around to face their leader while gripping the brunette's shoulder, making her faced the orange-haired male as well.

"King~ What do you think? Doesn't she look great in it~?" he asked. His smile grew even wider when he saw the King staring directly at Hanayo with wide eyes. Even Hanayo was feeling embarrassed from the stare that she couldn't even bring herself to look away. Seconds passed by until he finally spoke up.

"Who are you again?" Leo asked. It was at that moment, everyone facepalmed themselves while Hanayo could only muster a weak laugh.

* * *

~ With [Akatsuki] ~

It was right after Umi had changed, Kuro offered himself to arrange her hair with accessories which Umi gladly accepted. As Kuro continues to comb the blue-haired female's hair, both Souma and Keito could only watched the male did his work while Umi stared at the reflection inside the mirror in front of her.

"As expected of Kiryu-dono, you are amazing even in accessories arrangement." Souma praised the senior with admiration in his eyes. Kuro looked over at him before he let out a chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

"It's not really a big deal. I learned all about it from my little sister, to be honest." he replied, smiling at the young samurai while tying Umi's hair in a ponytail style.

"You really need to stop with that sister complex of yours..." Keito spoke up, half-glaring at the red-haired male with mixed emotions. It was hard to tell what the bespectacled male was thinking at the moment.

"It's not like I can help it..." and their conversations went on without Umi as the blue-haired female continues to stare at her reflection in front of her. Her costume was a little bit different from the original [Akatsuki]'s unit costume. It still had the same design and style however, her costume, unlike the original one, was sleeveless. Her hair at the moment was tied by the same red cords that she had on her obi. As of now, Kuro was placing a flower hairpin on her tied ponytail.

"There. Finished." Kuro walked away to take a good look at Umi from the reflection before nodding his head with a smile. "Good. It looks perfect on you."

She traced the hairpin at her hair, admiring the flower design hanging at the edge. It was weird how she looked different but at the same time, it also had a familiar feeling. Probably it was because of her family traditions. Turning around to face the red-haired male, she smiled and bowed down.

"Thank you, Kiryu-senpai." looking up, she face the other two members of [Akatsuki]. "I would like to thank the both of you as well, Kanzaki-san, Hasumi-senpai."

"Why are you thanking us? Unlike Kiryu-dono, I have done nothing." Souma had a surprised look on his face. Umi remained silent before she spoke up.

"Well, the fact that I get the opportunity to wear [Akatsuki]'s costume, it was all due thanks to all of you agreeing to let me wear it in the first place. That's why, thank you, once again." she bowed her head in gratitude. It has become a familiar action for her to bow down to them for all of their hard work and effort. There no excuse to not respect them in any way, in her opinion.

"Raise your head up, Sonoda. There's no need to be thankful. In fact, we should be thanking you instead for accepting the job to promote our unit." Keito spoke up, immediately made Umi looked up to face him. "All I asked of you is to go and do your part in the photoshoot after this. I hope you won't have a problem with that now, do you?"

Umi remained silent as she took in his words. Smiling at the bespectacled male, she nodded her head.

"Yes, you can leave it to me."

* * *

~ With [RYUSEITAI] ~

"Why are we wearing our uniform again...?" Midori asked but no one paid attention as they went into their position in front of the room where Nozomi was changing into her new costume. Not soon after that, Chiaki's voice suddenly boomed in the area.

"Alright, you know what to do! Just as we practiced before! RYUSEITAI, ensemble!" he gave an order as they all went into action in front of the door.

"Ryusei Black! Nagumo Tetora is here!" Tetora struck a pose with a grin on his face before he went to the side, switching places with the next member.

"Ryusei Blue~ Shinkai Kanata~" Just like their previous action, he went to the side, another member replacing his spot.

"Ryusei Yellow! Sengoku Shinobu, lurks in the shadows!" he struck one of his ninja pose before jumping away. Midori walked in and stood in front of the door, posing rather weakly and awkwardly.

"R-Ryusei Green... Takamine Midori..." letting out a sigh, he decided to just ended it there, his head hung low as he walked away. Meanwhile Chiaki jumped in, immediately changing the previous gloomy atmosphere with a passionate and energetic one.

"Ryusei Red! Morisawa Chiaki with the burning heart!" he struck a passionate pose. Soon after he said that, the door behind him opened and Nozomi walked out, immediately struck a pose like the others.

"RYUSEI Purple~! Toujou Nozomi will be in your care~" she struck a cute and bubbly pose together with her paper charms in her new costume. Just like everyone's costumes, she had the same design and style as them except her costumes were in purple colour. Instead of wearing a pants, she wore a tight leather mini skirt with black leggings as well as a pair of tall purple boots that matches the colour of her costume. Once she said her part, everyone joined in and struck their hero pose in front of the room.

It was hilarious to think when it seemed as if they were doing a video recording in front of the room, recording everyone's heroic poses and phrases together. Once silence filled the area, Chiaki, of course, was the first one to break the dead silence.

"That was perfect, Toujou! High-five!" Chiaki held out his hand and the purple-haired female proceeded to high-five him back. Together, all of them cheered as they shared their excitement of her new costume. Meanwhile, Midori could only looked at them tired eyes.

"Like I've said... Why are we wearing our uniform again...?" his question remained unanswered as he let out a sigh, hanging his head low. "Ugh, I'm so depressed... I just want to-"

Right before he could even finished the word, Nozomi slapped his mouth shut with one of her charms, instantly shutting his mouth.

"Bad word, disappear!" she shouted as she posed, earning an 'oooh' from the other members as they watched her in awe and cheered for her fast action.

'Just let me die already...' Midori thought in his head without even caring what just happened to him back then.

* * *

~ With [Ra*bits] ~

"Nico-chan? Are you done?" Nazuna called out from outside the room. Beside him, the other three members of Ra*bits stood near their leader as they waited patiently for the petite female to finish changing.

"Just a little bit more~!" she replied back in a cheerful tone followed by her humming in the room.

"I hope the costume is okay... I'm worried if it's too big or too small for her..." Hajime spoke up, his eyes were reflecting his worries towards the costume. Although he had made the costume together with Kotori, he couldn't help but get anxious if he somehow had messed up certain parts. Nazuna took that chance to pet his head, smiling at the light-blue haired male.

"Don't worry about it, Hajime-chin. I know you did a good job with the costume. So don't looked so down. Okay?"

"Exactly~!" Nico's voice interrupted the conversation as she opened the door, revealing herself in [Ra*bits]'s uniform. Just like the original costume of [Ra*bits]'s, Nico's costume were made up of a blue and white sailor outfit. Instead of pants, she wore a blue skirt with white trimmed lace. On the side of her waist, she also had the same bell and ribbons dangling together just like the original costume. She also wore a pair of brown high-heel boots, including [Ra*bits]'s blue beret. And her hair tie was decorated with bell as well, making chiming sounds whenever she moved around.

"Nico-Nico-Ni~! It's everyone's favourite idol, Nico~! With just a little bit of Nico-Nico-Ni, I can win over everyone's heart~!" she did a heart-hand gesture to everyone with her cute expression and pose. When silence filled the surrounding, Nico finally reverted back to her own usual self.

"What? No comments?" she placed her hands on her hips, pouting slightly. Her face made everyone laughed, even Nico herself eventually joined in and laughed together with them.

"You really haven't change, Nico-chin. I'm glad you're still yourself after all these years." Nazuna smiled at her, causing her to blush. Being the evasive type, Nico immediately covered up her blush by acting all shy in front of him.

"H-Hey~ Don't say such a thing in front of the kids~ I'm turning all red from that, you know!" Nico squeal, earning questioning looks from everyone even, Nazuna himself. Right after that, Nico stared right back at the blond male with a shy smile.

"Nazuna-kun, what do you think?" she emphasized the costume as she stood there, acting all shy and nervous in front of him. Nazuna, however, just nodded his head and smiled.

"Yeah, it looks good on you." and that was all that he said.

"That's it?"

"What else should I say? It really just looked good on you." his plain comment had froze Nico on her spot as she heard a sound of glass breaking somewhere inside of her.

"Aha...hahaha..." her eyes twitched, still trying her best to maintain her smile in front of him.

"Oh, right. We need to go to the Studio Room right? Let's go everyone! We'll be late if we don't move now!" Nazuna quickly made his way towards their next location without even sparing a glance behind. Meanwhile, Nico remained frozen on her spot before she slumped herself behind Tomoya's back.

"Tomoya-kun~ You know my pain right~? This pain...is too much~" Nico wailed as she cried crocodile tears behind the boy.

"W-What's wrong with Nico-chan-senpai?" Mitsuru asked, slightly surprised by the petite senior's sudden wailing. Even Hajime was speechless from the sight as he stared at the senior. Tomoya, on the other hand, could only let out a sigh as he was the only one among the three of them who knew what happened between the two seniors.

"It's a long story..."

* * *

~ In the Studio Room with Kotori ~

Back in the Studio Room, Kotori remained inside the room, waiting for her friends to arrive. While waiting, she couldn't help but imagined how her friends would looked like when they wore it.

"Ehehe~ I wonder how everyone thought of the costume~?" Kotori asked to no one in particular as her mind was filled with images of her friends in the costumes she made. While Kotori continues to fantasize about her friends, she failed to notice a certain distress aura coming from a certain brunette in the room with her.

"Kotori-chan..."

Kotori immediately snapped out of her trance and looked over to the direction of the one who called out for her. Slightly further away from Kotori, stood Anzu in [Switch]'s unit costume. Unlike the bright and energetic aura that the yellow colour from the costume representing itself, Anzu herself was the complete opposite.

"W-What's wrong, Anzu-chan?" Kotori asked, slightly surprised by the expression on Anzu's face.

"Everything!" the brunette snapped, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. The bright, red colour on her face was enough to tell that she was way beyond embarrassed at the moment. "Why do I have to participate in doing this? I'm not even part of μ's! I'm just a normal, simple Producer! Since I'm supposed to be presenting for [Switch], Natsume-kun have nonstop bothering me ever since that day!"

Anzu continues to cry while Kotori took her time to console the brunette from her misery, petting her back while Anzu kept on talking about how that certain magician kept on pestering her with questions regarding the costumes and how she had been dragged into the mess.

'Maybe I shouldn't have asked Tsumugi-senpai to make the costume after all...' Kotori thought to herself, feeling slightly guilty as she continues to console the sad brunette.

* * *

 **And that's all for the extra chapter from the previous request! Hahaha, I was thinking of putting this into the previous chapter so that it'll be considered as one chapter but since the requester wanted the Handicraft Club moments specifically, I had no choice but to put this one out as an extra chapter.**

 **So, unlike AO3 (Archive of Our Own), Fanfiction can't put images like the other website. So, if you want to see how the costumes looked like on the girls, you can either looked over at my place in AO3 or you can just go to my DeviantART. (I can't put the links because, you know?) I'M SORRY~!**

 **(p/s: I'll be uploading the pictures in time since I don't want to delay my other 4 requests from Himeko Kanzaki, hinagiku27, SweetHoneyBee and lastly from Fangirloid. I need to focus finishing their request in the respective order so that we can continue to the next progress~)**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	33. Behind the Friendship (μ's & Trickstar)

**Coming up next, the 8th request, from Himeko Kanzaki~!**

 **Himeko Kanzaki requested =** **"** **Hokuto and Honoka moment and Muse and Trickstar teased them about it.** **"**

 **Oh, this is going to be good...**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 31: Behind the Friendship (μ's and Trickstar)

It was during lunch break, and for once in a while, μ's were having a lunch together at the cafeteria. Although they usually would have lunch in their own classroom or any other areas, they thought, for once, they should try and feel a new experience as they sat together in the noisy and packed cafeteria.

However, being packed with other students from different courses, it was safe to say that the cafeteria was full. Plus, with most of the students in Yumenosaki being boys rather than girls, they couldn't muster any courage to ask around other students to share a table with them.

Fortunately, Trickstar was in the area and they quickly invited the girls to join them for lunch. It was better for idols to stay within a group of idols after all, Hokuto mentioned. So there they were, sitting together as they ate their lunch.

The boys were sitting in the same line starting with Makoto sitting at the end of the table. Sitting beside him was Mao, followed by Subaru, Hokuto, Honoka, Kotori and Umi. On the other side of the table, Nozomi sat across of Kotori with Eli sitting beside her, followed by Nico, Maki, Rin and lastly Hanayo.

Mao was pretty much advising Rin to stop eating ramen all the time when he saw her bringing a bowl of ramen to the table. Although, that didn't stop her from eating it as she listened to him, nodding her head to whatever he was talking about. Hanayo was pretty much looking down on the table all the time, refusing to look at the bespectacled male sitting across of her as her face turns redder every time she took a peek at his face.

Nico was practically stealing Maki's food although the red-haired female wasn't bothered by it as she continues to sip her juice box without a slightest care which kind of impressed Subaru for no reason. Eli and Nozomi would occasionally talked among themselves while Kotori and Umi discussed about their unit progress with each other.

While everyone were engrossed with their own lunch and talking with one another, Honoka happily ate her bread until she took the last bite.

"Thank you for the food~" Honoka let out a relieving sigh after she finished her food. However, her relieved smile was immediately replaced with a frown as she crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Hmm, but I still think it's not enough..."

"That's because you're just eating a SINGLE bread..." Hokuto commented on her statement while Honoka pouted beside him before she let out a sigh.

"Oh well... At least I have this~" she took out something from her pocket before revealing it out into view. Hokuto's eyes immediately landed on a familiar sight on her hands. A bag of konpeito.

"You're eating that now...?" Hokuto asked with a questioning look on his face. Honoka grinned before she opened the bag and took out one of the candy, observing its' colour and shape.

"Well, I was actually planning to eat it in class after this~"

"Oi..." Hokuto gave her a stern look before Honoka waved it off with a giggle.

"But, I might as well just eat some of it right now." once she said that, she popped the candy into her mouth, savoring the candy as she took another one out of the bag. Picking it out, she held it in front of Hokuto with a smile. "You want some?" she asked.

Hokuto, of course, would never turned down such offer. Especially if it's related to something that he liked. And konpeito was one of them. He stared at the candy in between her thumb and index finger. The sight of the candy made him happy and refusing the offer was out of the question.

"Sure, if you don't mind. Thank you." right when he was about to take it from her, she pulled her hand away and her smile was replaced with a grin. Hokuto knew deep down that something wrong was about to happen.

"What are you doing...?" he asked, watching the orange-haired female with skeptical eyes.

"Say 'Ahh~'..." Honoka slowly held it out in front of his mouth, motioning him to do the same while the black-haired male paled at the orange-haired female's sudden action.

"No." he backed away, glaring at her.

"Aww, why not? I thought you want it?" she asked, a questioning look spread all over her face. Hokuto had to hold himself in not to let out a sigh in front of her. "I do want it but I don't need you to feed me like that in public..."

"What's wrong with that?" she asked, even more confused.

"Everything..."

"Aww, come on! We did it before! What's so different about doing it now?" she pouted, a frown appearing on her face as she shoved the candy in front of his face once again.

"W-What-?"

"Now say 'Ahh~'...!" she did the same motion again but this time, Hokuto held her arm that was holding the candy and pulled it away.

"I said, I don't need you to feed me..." he said with an irritated look on his face while Honoka gave him an equally irritated look as well before it turned into a heated glaring competition.

It took Hokuto a few seconds later to realize something was off. Everything was quite around him. Looking at the others, his suspicions were right. Everyone at the table were looking at them. Some of them were looking at them with skeptical looks while some were grinning. And one of them was Nico, who had the biggest grin in the group.

"What...?" he muttered.

"So, what does, 'we did it before' could possibly mean~? Hmm~?" Nico asked, wiggling her eyebrows at the duo. Knowing Nico, he knew that the petite senior was not going to let them go away easily. And Hokuto painfully knew that if he doesn't do something, he will regret it.

"It means nothing." he answered immediately, hoping that they would dropped the subject but unfortunately, the wide grin on Nico's face told him otherwise.

"You're denying it!" Nico pointed at the black-haired male. Hokuto turned speechless as he didn't know how to counter it, which only made Nico smirk slyly at him. "So that means, there IS something behind it~!"

It was then the questions and accusations began as Hokuto sat there, taking in all of them into his mind. While everyone talked amongst themselves, Honoka could only watched them talking about her and Hokuto without even feeling embarrassed or guilty.

"Come on, you two! Spit it!" Nico exclaimed, standing from her seat as she pointed her fingers at the mentioned pair. Both Hokuto and Honoka could see clearly how excited the petite senior was, at the moment. Nico leaned closer to the duo with a grin on her face. "What exactly is the relationship between you two all this time!? Hmm~?"

Hokuto was going to speak up but unfortunately, Honoka cut him off.

"We're actually just childhood friends." she said casually.

Almost immediately, everyone looked at her with an incredulous look as silence surrounded the group's table. Hokuto, on the other hand, let out a sigh as he placed his face at the palm of his hand. Noticing the reactions from her friends, Honoka began to explain even more.

"Well, it's not like we're THAT close to be called childhood friends. It's just that he tends to come over to my neighbourhood with his grandmother from time to time. You could say my mom and his grandmother were close, even to this day~" Honoka cheerfully explained, suddenly smiling when she spoke about the black-haired male's grandmother.

"W-What?" Nico asked, her hand faltered slightly as she tried to process the information while looking at the orange-haired female skeptically.

"It's true! You can asked Umi-chan and Kotori-chan about it! Right?" she turned around to face her other two childhood friends.

"Well, now that you mentioned it. We always saw him in the park with his grandmother every time he came over..." Kotori said out loud as she tried to recall the past.

"Yes, I supposed it's true. Although, it was more like Hidaka-san and his grandmother just came over the neighbourhood to buy konpeito from the Kousaka's Japanese Sweets shop." Umi added in before Kotori nodded her head in agreement as she recalled it.

"Right~? Hokuto-kun always stayed close to his grandmother every time he visited us. It was really hard to ask him to play with us..." Honoka let out a sigh as she recalled that moment with Kotori giggled afterward when she remembered how it happened.

"Oh, that's right! It was Honoka-chan who kept asking Hokuto-kun to join us and play at the park. Hehehe, and Honoka even promised him to give more konpeito if he joined us~"

"You bribed him!?" everyone asked in unison, looking at the orange-haired female incredulously.

"With Konpeito!?" Makoto and Subaru said in unison before both of them looked away, struggling to keep themselves from laughing out loud which slightly irked the black-haired male.

"I...think so?"

"Yes, you did..." Hokuto mumbled but it was loud enough for Honoka to hear it before she let out a nervous laugh and apologized to him.

"Wait, wait, wait! So that means, there's nothing going on between you two!? At all?" Nico asked, still unsatisfied by the truth. It was almost amusing to see how much she tried to uncover the relationship between Hokuto and Honoka even though there was nothing more than what had just been told. Even so, everyone's gazes went to Honoka as they waited for her reply. When Honoka realized her friends' gazes, she could only shrugged her shoulders.

"What else can it be?"

Silence filled the group's table once again before Nico slammed her fist on the table, surprising everyone in the group as well as other students sitting nearby. Her head hung low as her bangs hid her expression from everyone's view.

"N-Nico-chan...?" Rin asked, surprised and worried by the sudden action Nico just did.

"What else can it be...? What else can it be...!? Aha...ahahaha..." she raised her head, revealing an annoyed expression with tears forming at the corner of her eyes as she glared at Honoka with an irritated smile. It was as if they were looking at a broken doll. However, at that point, everyone knew not to take her seriously anymore.

"Nico, let it go already..." Eli placed her hand on Nico's shoulder, pulling her down to her seat while calming her down. Nico finally sat down, her head hung low once again as she faced the table.

"Somehow her denseness reminds me painfully of someone that I knew so well...!" Nico's fist shook on the table, controlling her anger.

"I can guess who~" Nozomi playfully teased the petite female while Eli consoled her.

"Makoto, you've been fidgeting non-stop over there... You okay?" Mao finally spoke up after looking over at his two friends who were clamping their mouths tightly with their hands. Makoto slowly opened his mouth before he faced the violet-haired male, with tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"I-I'm fine. It's just...the joke about Hidaka-kun's grandmother and the konpeito was killing me in the inside..." Right after Makoto said his part, Subaru finally let out a laugh. The orange-haired male laughed so hard that he almost fell backwards from his seat.

"Ahahaha~! Bribing with konpeito! That's genius!" he continues to laugh, banging the table with his hand next as he caught the other students' attention before they ignored them without casting weird glances over their way.

"D-Did I do something wrong?" Honoka glanced at the two males with worried expression before she looked over at Hokuto, who remained silent before he let out a long sigh.

* * *

 **Who would have thought that Honoka was also dense to close relationship like a CERTAIN someone else in this story. Pretty sure you all knew who Nico was referring to. Ahaha~! Gotta love all those dense people because it's SO fun to torture their partner's feelings for them. (insert evil laugh)**

 **Anyway, sorry it took so long. I had to reset my laptop due to it's lagginess and for having so much useless things inside that I've kept for God knows how long it's been in there. (It's like 4-5 freaking years old guys...) So yeah, resetting your laptop equals to losing your apps, losing your pictures, losing your musics, losing all of the goddamn games, including the goddamn stories...**

 **Guess what? I'm just kidding~! I already saved the stories before I reset the whole thing~ For the others, I did lose them~ Cause I didn't save, nor do I bother~ Aha~! The torture part was the long waiting, the installing, and the apps I freaking needed to make sure my laptop is not useless. And voila, I'm back~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	34. A Hectic Sunday (IzuPana & ChiaNozo)

**Coming up next, the 9th request, from hinagiku27~!**

 **hinagiku27 requested =** **"More IzuPana and ChiaNozo interactions"**

 **At first I thought about doing a separate chapter for this request but nope~! Sweetknife55, who is also this story's co-author had a sweet idea where these two pairings could go together! So, yeah~! This chapter is proudly created based on an idea that she gave.**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 32: A Hectic Sunday (IzuPana & ChiaNozo)

It was a peaceful day for Hanayo. No school, no homework, no club activities or even idol activities. A peaceful day on a weekend was all that she needed. Hanayo casually strolled around in the shopping district, looking around to find if there was anything that caught her interest. Like any normal weekend, the shopping district was packed with people, whether they were just hanging around, shopping with friends or family, or simply just taking casual walks like her.

Even if her outing turned out to be nothing more than just a simple walk without buying anything, she was fully content with it. She needed it. A peaceful walk with no one to bother her.

"If only my school life were as peaceful as this..." she let out a sigh as her mind went back to all the busy and frantic moments she went through in school. Be it if it was μ's' idol activities or her job as a Sub-Producer. Suddenly, her mind was filled with the thought of a certain someone who basically made her whole life miserable. Just the thoughts alone had made her depressed. And it has only just been 2 months ever since she enrolled into Yumenosaki and yet, her life was already thrown upside-down.

'No, no, no!' she thought to herself, shaking her head slightly as she pushed out her previous thoughts away. Today was supposed to be her day off from all kinds of problems as she relaxed and enjoyed her peaceful time with no disturbance. Somehow, despite telling herself not to think about her problems, she felt as if she had jinxed herself with it. The thought that she might actually bumped into him at any moment made her weak.

"I-It can't be right? The town is pretty big after all... Right, it's impossible..." she mumbled softly, making sure that no one heard her talking to herself. As she walked down the sidewalk, she looked around cautiously for any familiar faces that she might bumped into but fortunately, they were all strangers as far as her eyes could see.

"What am I even worried about?" she let out a relieving smile, her doubts were slowly fading away as she continues to walk before she turned around the corner. "I guess I was just over-thinking it-Kyahh!"

Hanayo immediately fell backwards, landing on her bottom when she accidentally bumped into someone who was also turning around the corner from the opposite direction. Unlike her, they were pretty much lucky not to land on their butt on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, not much could be said for their sunglasses that fell on the ground, landing near her leg.

"Watch it!" they scolded her and Hanayo immediately flinched from the stern tone they were using at her as she picked up the sunglasses to give it back to them.

"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't really looking where I was-" she looked up, holding out the sunglasses to them and almost immediately her words died on the spot. Her eyes landed on a very familiar face and it was not someone that she expected to see nor did she ever wished to see on this day. But now she knew fully well, that she had jinxed herself pretty bad.

"S-Sena-senpai!?" she squeaked, slightly terrified of the sight of Izumi's face in front of her as she trembled slightly. Even Izumi himself was pretty surprised to see her but his expression immediately turned into a frown as he glared at her. Her voice had caught everyone's attention walking nearby as some of them merely gave them a questioning glances while some of them stopped whatever they were doing to look over.

"Hey, what happened there...?" whispers could be heard all over the place as she looked around, watching everyone's gazes on her and the grey-haired male. Embarrassed, Hanayo pushed herself up from the ground, patting away the invisible dusts on her skirt and yet, the whispers and questions coming from the pedestrians didn't stop.

"Wait a minute, that guy looks familiar doesn't he?" one of the pedestrian said out loud, pointing at the male. Hanayo stopped whatever she was doing to look at the one who asked the question.

"Yeah, he does. And didn't the girl called him 'Sena' before...?"

"Huh, Sena...!? As in Sena Izumi...!?" another one whispered. From there, even more people were gathering around, looking at duo with curiosity.

"Shit...!" Izumi silently cursed, hiding his face in his hand. It was then Hanayo realized that his sunglasses was the one that helped hid his face from public's eyes. Guilt slowly overtook her as she glanced at the grey-haired male.

"Oh my god, is that really him?!" a girl suddenly squealed, attracting even more attention to the crowd.

"I can't believe it...!" the girl beside the previous one squealed as well.

"It is him!" and another one.

"You mean, that model!? Kyah~!"

"It's the real deal~!" by seconds, the crowd turned bigger and bigger. Hanayo knew very well that if she doesn't escape the crowd, she will be in BIG trouble. Unfortunately, she was not the only one who thought the same but she certainly didn't expect to get a help.

Izumi suddenly grasped her arm and pulled her away from the crowd, running away afterward with her. His action took her by surprised but because he was pulling her along to get away from the huge squealing crowd behind them, Hanayo focused all of her thought in running away. Hopefully, along the way, they'll find a place to lay low for a while.

* * *

A flock of birds that suddenly flew off from trees surprised a certain shrine maiden who was cleaning a wide-spaced courtyard in front of a shrine.

"Oh..." was all that Nozomi could mustered as she watched the birds flew off. It might seemed nothing in the eyes of people but for Nozomi, she sensed something else. Standing in the middle of the wide area, she looked up at the sky where the birds had flew off, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Toujou~!" a familiar, energetic voice called out to her from the entrance. Turning around, she saw the owner of the voice as they jogged their way to her.

"Oh, Chiaki-kun. You're still here?" Nozomi was surprised. She knew that he always did his exercises early in the morning but she really didn't expect to see him around in the afternoon as well. Chiaki stopped right in front of her, wiping away his sweats forming at his forehead before placing both of his hands on his hips.

"Hahaha! Of course! Once I rested up, I immediately resumed to my training back. Morning jog was simply not enough for me! Besides, on a fine day like this, it's better to spend it doing something useful~!" he said, almost enthusiastically. Nozomi's surprised look turned into a smile before she giggled.

"You're awfully cheerful today, aren't you?" she asked.

"Really? Huh, I guess I am~!" he grinned. Not long after that, Chiaki stared at the broom in her hands before he crossed his arms, with a quizzical look on his face.

"By the way, I know I asked this times and times again but..." he spoke up. "Do you need any help?"

Surprised and yet, not so surprised by his offer, Nozomi stood there, staring at him before a smile crept on her face.

"Thank you, Chiaki-kun. But it's fine. I told you before right? This is a part of a shrine maiden's duty after all." she explained. However, despite telling him the same kind of answer, Chiaki slightly pouted, as if he was sulking. The purple-haired female noticed his reaction before she chuckled lightly.

"Don't look so disappointed because of this... Come on, cheer up~" she tried to console the brunette male. Chiaki's expression remained the same as he looked away, pouting even more childishly. Nozomi had to held back a giggle before a teasing smirk made it's way to her face. "Besides, I'm sure someone else might be needing your help more than I do. Isn't that right, Mr. Hero~?"

Slowly, Chiaki's pouting face changed into a small smile.

"I guess you right. Hahaha~! As expected of you, Toujou! You know me so well~!" he laughed away while Nozomi let out a sigh.

"It was pretty obvious if I had to be honest." she said. "Well, anyway. Like I've said, someone out there might need your help more than I do right now. In fact, it could happen at any time right now."

"Someone help us~!" a distant voice cried out, however, it still reached both Nozomi and Chiaki's ears.

"See? Right on cue~" Nozomi cheered. Silence engulfed the area as the duo stood there, processing what they had just heard. Looking at the entrance, they expected to see someone crying out for help, but there was none, making the whole situation even awkward than ever.

"You...heard that too, right...?" Nozomi whispered.

"Yeah..." Chiaki nodded his head.

Without wasting time, the duo went to the entrance, looking around to find the one who was crying out for help. Surprisingly, there was no one near the entrance. However, the sight of two running figures dashing towards them caught their attention.

"You, over there! Help us!" a voice called out to the duo in front of the shrine. It took Nozomi and Chiaki a while to identify the running figures that were heading towards them. Once they were getting closer, they finally recognized the running duo.

"That's-!"

"It's Sena! And the other one-" Chiaki cut off his word, trying to figure out the female running with him. Peering closer at the female, it turned out to be none other than...

"H-Hanayo-chan!?" Nozomi cried out, surprised to find the young brunette together with someone she didn't expect for her to be with. Hanayo finally slowed down and stopped right in front of Nozomi, falling into her embrace afterward.

"Nozomi-chan...! Please help us..." she whimpered, tears could be seen at the corner of her eyes. Right before Nozomi could even asked what happened, Izumi already cut her off, staring at Chiaki as he gripped both of the brunette's shoulders.

"Oi, Morisawa! I don't like asking for favour but I have no choice right now! Hide us somewhere! I don't care where!"

"Whoa there, I don't think I fully grasp of what's happening right now. If you could explain what happened, I can help out-" right before the brunette male could even finished his sentence, both Izumi and Hanayo stared at him and talked with the same pleading tone at the same time.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! JUST HIDE US!"

* * *

"R-Really? You haven't seen them at all?" a girl asked, a sad look formed on her face. Nozomi shook her head and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm really sorry. I was busy with my duties in the shrine. So, I can't help you about that." the purple-haired female shrugged her shoulders, gripping her broom tightly to emphasize her statement. The previous girl, along with her friends let out a sad sigh.

"I see..."

"Well then, how about you? Have you seen them?" another girl spoke up, facing Chiaki with a hopeful look on her face.

"Well, I don't know if I saw them while I jogged around here." he said, scratching the back of his head. The girls once again had a sad look on their faces before Chiaki pitied them. Suddenly, he spoke up again with a smile on his face. "Oh, but I do saw a couple who walked passed me while I was doing my rounds a few minutes ago! But I'm not sure if it's the same people you're looking for. But it might be worth trying to find out!"

"Really!?" they cried out, the happy look on their expression was blindingly bright.

"It must be him!" one of them squealed.

"Yeah, it must be!"

"Let's go! We need to find him now! It's our only chance to see him right in front of our eyes~!" they squealed before they took off. That was until the previous girl that asked Nozomi stopped in her tracks and turned around to face them.

"Um, thank you so much! We'll be leaving now!" she bowed down and smiled. After that, she ran after her friends.

"Good luck finding whatever you're looking for!" Chiaki waved his arms at them as if he was cheering for them. Once the girls were far enough from their sight, Nozomi finally spoke up.

"Chiaki-kun..." she called out. Chiaki turned around to face the purple-haired female but when he saw the nervous look on her face, his smile disappeared and his face was replaced with a questioning look. Without saying anything, Nozomi pointed her finger over at the direction of a thick bushes behind them. Hiding behind the green bushes, two figures have already exposed their presence out in the open. Hanayo was peering out from the line of the bushes while Izumi stood straight up, glaring at Chiaki.

"Morisawa..." he muttered. However, Chiaki was confused by both of what was happening and by Izumi's glare towards him.

"What?"

 _Snap._

"Don't go 'what?' on me! Why did you have to tell them the last part!?" Izumi finally burst out, making his way towards the brunette male, still glaring at him. Although he was standing directly in front of him, Chiaki remained unfazed. At the same time, his confusion remained.

"Which part?" he asked and Izumi could feel a vein popped up on his forehead.

"The 'couple' part! That one and only stupid 'couple' part! Was it necessary to call us that!? Couldn't you make up a better excuse!?" he gripped both of the brunette's shoulder, shaking him forth and back, forth and back.

"I can't help it! I'm bad when it comes to lying. Besides, I don't like to lie you know?" Chiaki crossed his arms with a stern look on his face. It was as if he was advising the grey-haired male and Izumi didn't liked that.

"Haa~!? And what gives you the right to think that a 'couple' was acceptable!? Huh!?" his glare was soon replaced with a scowl. Izumi's patience was slowly thinning out and that was never a good sign to anyone. Unfortunately, that doesn't affect Chiaki.

"But that was the closest one that I could come up with."

"That's not the point!"

While the boys were arguing among themselves, Nozomi had made her way beside Hanayo as both of the females watched the males, exchanging looked between Chiaki and Izumi. Finally decided to break the silence between them, Nozomi leaned closer to the young brunette and whispered.

"So, how did you end up getting dragged into this...?" she asked, still watching over the two males. She could hear the young brunette let out a long, heavy sigh. Her whole body slumped down as if all of her energy had left her.

"I just wanted a peaceful walk..."

* * *

 **There you go~! An IzuPana and ChiaNozo moments at the same time~! Well, it's not really a moment. More like, a random scenario that happened out of nowhere. But anyway! I had fun writing this! It's fun including two pairings at the same time. It makes the interactions more fun~!**

 **Once again, a big thank you for Sweetknife55 for giving the idea. Make sure to read her stories too, in both Fanfiction as well as AO3! She's putting up requests in her story called 'Song of a Waiting Love', which is also a Love Live X Ensemble Stars crossover oneshots (Plus with Aqours~)! Trust me, she has a better flexible/free relationship requests rather than mine, which has already been fixed in this story~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	35. A Photoshoot Day (μ's)

**Coming up next, the 10th request, from SweetHoneyBee~!**

 **SweetHoneyBee requested (a prompt)=** **"** **Having been divided by sub-units and wearing their first album costume, the males (particularly those in UNDEAD [it contains the highest love interest]) find them a bit hot, cool and cute, and dote on them** **"**

 **Oho, ohohohohoho~! You can tell I'm going to have so much fun writing this~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

Chapter 33: A Photoshoot Day (μ's)

* * *

It was a very busy day for Anzu. And tiring as well. Today was the day where she had to gather all Idol units to do their photoshoot session as a part in promoting their own first album that was soon to be released to public. She was practically running around in the school, trying her best to gather them all together and making sure they didn't disappear all of the sudden, especially Leo in most cases.

Now that most of the units had finished their photoshoot, they have left to change out of their costumes. The only ones left waiting were [Knights] and [RYUSEITAI], who were currently doing their photoshoot inside the Studio Room.

"Hey, Anzu. How long are they going to take inside there?" Leo asked, pouting slightly at the brunette female. Glancing at the leader of [Knights], she gave him a smile.

"They're still in the middle of doing their solo photoshoot. So, I hope you can wait just a little longer." she said but her response didn't help motivate the orange-haired male as he stood on his spot with his back slumped. The next one to speak up was Izumi, who clicked his tongue beforehand, catching Anzu's attention towards him.

"Knowing that Morisawa, I can tell that he's probably wasting his time thinking of a perfect pose..." Izumi grumbled but nevertheless, remained on his spot as he waited patiently for [RYUSEITAI] to finish up.

"I'm sleepy..." Ritsu suddenly spoke up, catching most of their attentions to him. He was sitting on the floor before he suddenly lie down on his back on the floor, shifting his position to find a comfortable position. "Wake me up when they're done..."

"Please don't sleep on the floor, Ritsu-senpai..." Tsukasa lightly scold the older male, dragging his arm up but Ritsu didn't bother as he ignored him.

"Anyway, I'm guessing we're the last one for this photoshoot session, am I right?" Arashi asked, focusing back to what they previously were talking about. Anzu looked over to the documents in her clipboard, reading through some of the name lists.

"Actually..." she finally spoke up before looking at them. "...there's another 3 more units..."

Everyone was caught off surprised when they heard what she just said.

"Huh~!? What does that supposed to mean? I thought we're the last one?" Izumi asked, the confused expression on his face clearly showed how much he was taken surprised by it.

"That would be the sub-units of [μ's]." Anzu replied bluntly, as if there was nothing wrong with stating it out. All of the members from [Knights] looked at her with a confused look.

"Sub-units?"

* * *

"That was soooooooo fun~! We should definitely do more of those photoshoot thingy again~!" Subaru cheered.

"Whoa there, Subaru. Photoshoot is not for playing around, you know...?" Mao shook his head while Hokuto let out a sigh.

"Pretty sure Akehoshi-kun doesn't care about that..." Makoto just let out a nervous laugh as he looked over at his orange-haired friend. Overhearing his friends comments, Subaru turned around to face them while walking backwards.

"Aww, come on! You have to admit that it was fun, right?" he asked, slightly pouting.

"Walk with your eyes at the front, Akehoshi." Hokuto said, completely ignoring the orange-haired male's question which lead him to pout even more.

"Geez, I was just asking..." he whined but did what he was told. However, the moment he turned around, a door suddenly flung open right in front of him, which caused his face to slam flat on the door as he remained froze on the spot after the impact.

"Akehoshi-kun!" Makoto, worried over his friend's condition, immediately went to the orange-haired male, checking for injuries.

"Huh? What was that-" a female voice spoke up and emerged from behind the door. Everyone's eyes went to look over at the owner of the voice. Turns out that it was Honoka in a different attire. Just like how everyone had a confused look on their face, Honoka wore the same expression as well. "Oh, it's you guys? What are you doing-"

Before she could even finished her sentence, Subaru slowly fell backwards from the door, revealing a red mark on his face with swirly eyes.

"AHHH! What's wrong with Subaru-kun!?" Honoka cried out, surprised by the fainted Subaru on the other side of the door.

"Look at all the stars..." Subaru mumbled out while the others let out a sigh.

"Good grief..."

* * *

"I'm sorry, Subaru-kun! I really didn't noticed that you were right outside! Please forgive me!" Honoka cried out as she pressed both of her palms against each other in front of her in an apologetic manner. Right after the unfortunate event, Honoka quickly brought Subaru inside the room to tend his injuries despite the latter insisted that he was fine.

"I told you, it's fine~! It's just a little cut. No biggie~!" Subaru waved off Honoka's guilt for his condition.

"That's why I told you to look what's in front of you..." Hokuto mumbled but it was loud enough for Subaru to hear what the black-haired male just said and looked over at him, pouting slightly.

"But Hokke! You're the one who told me to turn around all of the sudden. If you didn't tell me what to do, I wouldn't have gotten hurt~!" he whined once again.

"How is that my fault to begin with...?"

"Ignore him, Hokuto." Mao shrugged his shoulders.

"Now, now. Stay still, Subaru-kun." Kotori spoke up, catching the orange-haired male's attention back to her, who was sitting right beside him. Right when he faced back at her, she placed a band-aid over the bridge of his nose, covering up a small cut on his nose from view.

"There~! All done. It's good thing that you guys have finished your photoshoot. Or else, you might have to wear this for the rest of the time." Kotori lightly tapped the bandage aid on Subaru's nose before she closed the bandage kit.

"Hehehe, good thing we did~" he grinned.

"Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it. Why are you girls wearing a different costume? I thought [μ's] already did their photoshoot before the rest of us?" Makoto asked as he eyed the costumes that Honoka, Kotori and Hanayo, who had been silent the whole time, wore at the moment. As soon as the bespectacled male asked, the rest of Trickstar's members looked over at the 3 females in the room.

Like Makoto had mentioned, they were wearing a different kind of costumes. Unlike [μ's] main idol costume, what they wore were totally new to them. Each of them had a different style but at the same time, they have the same white and pink theme along with gold accents in it.

"T-That's true. We already did a photoshoot earlier together with everyone else..." Hanayo finally spoke up but her eyes remained gazing on the floor, refusing to look at anyone. Fiddling with her fingers, she continues with her explanation.

"B-But this time it's different! Unlike the previous photoshoot, this time, we're doing as a sub-unit of [μ's]~!" she said. Despite feeling embarrassed and nervous, even the young brunette couldn't hide her current excitement.

From there, they began to explain what lead them to their current state. Apparently, due to [μ's] being the only current female Idol group, it was safe to say, that there was no good competition within the school. It was then, the teachers decided to make up sub-units within [μ's].

"I see. So, [μ's] had been told to divide amongst themselves to make up a sub-unit huh?" Makoto mumbled as he took out his smartphone and began typing something. He had to take notes on what he had just heard. It was a pretty big deal after all.

"And you girls are called [Printemps], was it?" Mao asked, slightly interested with the whole thing about sub-units. Despite being a part of the Student Council, he was not aware of the whole sub-unit plan that the teachers made.

"Yep~! It means 'Spring' in French~! It suits us, right~?" Honoka asked, smiling brightly. "Now that we're officially considered as an independent sub-units of [μ's], maybe then we can consider doing collaboration with more units now~! And to be honest, I really want to collaborate with you guys!"

"Ehehehe, that's right~! I'm sure it's going to be fun! Right, Hanayo-chan~?" Kotori asked the young brunette with a knowing smile, which caused her to blush harder than before as she quickly brought her gaze down on the floor. Despite her reaction, Hanayo nodded her head in agreement with a smile, causing Kotori to giggle at the young brunette.

"How about it Hokuto-kun? Do you think you can consider that?" Honoka asked, smiling hopefully at the black-haired male. However, the said male remained silent as he stared at her. Confused, the ginger-haired female walked towards him and leaned closer.

"Hokuto-kun? Were you listening to me?" she asked while puffing her cheeks out at him. Right after he realized the close distance between them, he quickly backed away, his face flushed red.

"D-Don't just suddenly appear right in front of me..." he glared at the ginger-hair female as he crossed his arms, hoping that his blush would fade out quickly.

"But you were ignoring me. And I asked really nicely too..." she pouted and looked away. Hokuto nervously cleared his throat. He didn't want to say any unnecessary things for now, not in front of others and ESPECIALLY not in front of Subaru and Makoto. Hokuto could only let out a sigh before he nodded his head.

"Yes, yes. I'll consider the offer. For both of our unit's sake." he said with a small smile. Upon hearing his answer, Honoka's previous pout disappeared and was replaced with a big smile.

"Really? Yay~!" she cheered before she went to her friends and cheered together amongst themselves.

"But really, a sub-unit huh? Must be nice..." Subaru pondered for a while with his arms crossed. "I want my own sub-unit too~!"

"Uh, no. Not gonna happen..." Mao mumbled out as the rest of [Trickstar]'s members nodded their heads, causing the orange-haired male to pout while the 3 females laughed at their interactions.

* * *

"Nico-chan! Where are you!? Nico-chan!" Maki called out the petite senior's name many times as she walked down the hallway. Letting out a sigh, the red-haired female crossed her arms. "Why do I have to search for her too?"

It was right after she, Eli and Nico finished changing into their sub-unit, [BiBi]'s costume. Just when they thought they could go straight to the Studio Room, Nico already left the moment she finished changing. Both Maki and Eli didn't have to think hard where the petite female went. The fact that she squealed Nazuna's name had left them a big hint on where she was going.

Lightly tapping her foot, she wondered whether she should continue looking or not. If she had to be honest, she would like to go straight to the Studio Room and waited for Nico to arrive by herself. However, if she did that, it would meant leaving Eli searching for the petite female by herself. And she didn't want people to point out that she wasn't helping.

Letting out another sigh, she went downstairs to continue with her search. Right after she took the last step of the stairs, she called out the petite female's name again.

"Nico-chan! Come out already! Nico-chan!" she called out. It was right after that, she heard noises right around the corner. Thinking that it might be Nico, she quickly made her way towards it.

"Nico-chan! Where were you-Kyahh!" she fell backwards but fortunately, someone quickly gripped her wrist, preventing her fall. Opening her eyes, her eyes landed on a familiar face. It turns out to be Koga, who was in his [UNDEAD] Idol costume.

"Huh, so it was you after all? I should have known." he said, pulling her back to balance herself.

"K-Koga? What are you doing here?" finally getting her balance back, she asked the grey-haired male.

"I could ask you the same thing too. What the hell were you doing, calling out someone like an-" right before he could finished his sentence, he tensed. Maki took noticed of his reaction and looked at him with a confused look.

"Gahhhhhh!" he suddenly screamed as he let go of her hand and backed away as far as he could. Surprised by both his scream and actions, Maki also backed away from her spot as she stared at him.

"W-What's wrong with you!? Screaming all of the sudden, are you crazy!?" she asked, slightly irritated at his sudden cry.

"That's my question!" he retorted. Just when Maki was about to scold the male, she then realized how nervous he looked at the moment. Plus, his face was bright red as well. Just before she was about to ask something, he cut her off by pointing a finger at her. "What the hell are you wearing!?"

Judging from both where he was pointing at and what he just asked, it became apparent that he was referring to her costume.

"Uh, you mean this...?" she asked, pointing to her costume.

"What else!?"

"This is just a new costume for my new sub-unit, you know? It's not a big deal." she bluntly replied, crossing her arms as she eyed him questioningly.

"It is a big deal! What the hell are you thinking wearing that kind of revealing costume out in public!?" Koga quickly turned around with his back facing her. The red-haired female could only stare at him suspiciously. It took her a while to finally realized what was the grey-haired male's problem with her.

"Koga..." she spoke up and slowly made her way behind him. She could see him tensed up the moment she spoke his name. Slowly leaning closer to his ears, she whispered. "Are you perhaps, embarrassed?"

"What!? That's not-!" he quickly turned around to deny what she said but the moment he saw how close she was, he immediately backed away along with the same kind of expression he had previously. Unable to hold her amusement, she giggled.

"SHUT UP! STOP LAUGHING, DAMN IT!" he barked with his eye slightly twitched in annoyance.

"My, my. I didn't know you were this active today, doggie." a familiar voice spoke up, catching Maki's attention towards the owner of the voice behind Koga. Turns out it belongs to Sakuma Rei. Like Koga, he was wearing his [UNDEAD] Idol costume as well. Slightly behind him, she could see Adonis, who also wore his [UNDEAD] costume, silently following behind their leader.

"Shut up! What the hell are YOU doing here anyway!?" Koga barked at him, directing all of his attention to the older senior. Rei let out a sigh as soon and crossed his arms.

"I could literally hear your voice way over from the Light Music Club, doggie. And it hurts these poor ears of mine..." he shook his head. Koga was going to retort but Rei managed to cut him off.

"Anyway, I thought I'd checked on you. To see if you actually found him-" his eyes peered over Koga's shoulder and the moment he saw Maki, he stopped. Although his expression wasn't as surprised as Koga's face previously, she knew very well why he was staring at her like that.

"What?" she asked, nevertheless. Her question snapped him back to reality before he let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just surprised. I didn't knew you'd be so bold to wear such thing, Maki-chan." he said with a small smile. Unconsciously, her face went red from the older male's comment before she looked away.

"T-That's..." she stuttered, not before she was interrupted, once again.

"Maki?" a female voice spoke up. The red-haired female turned around and saw Eli coming down from the stairs. She had a relief expression on her face as she walked towards her.

"So you were here. I thought I heard your voice just now. I still haven't found Nico yet so I thought you might have a better luck in finding her instead." she said. It was when she finally walked into the hallway, she noticed the other three male students.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see anyone else." she smiled.

"GAHHHHHHHH!" Koga screamed once again and this time, he backed away even further as he almost bumped straight into Rei if the older senior didn't took a sidestep. At this point, Maki was already immune to his sudden screaming as she stared at him in annoyance. In Eli's case, she was taken by surprise from Koga's scream.

"W-W-What's wrong?" she asked, slightly worried over the grey-haired male's condition.

"Doggie, it's not nice to shout at your senior like that..." Rei gave him a disappointing glance. However, Koga didn't even paid any attention to him as he pointed his finger at the two females in front of him.

"What the hell is wrong with you people!? Wearing revealing and tight costumes like that!" he quickly turned around once more, averting his gaze from Maki and Eli as he gripped his head to calm himself down while grumbling out all by himself. While Eli continues to question herself about what had took place, Maki could only let out a tired sigh.

"Adonis-kun." Rei spoke up as he looked over at the purple-haired male. "Would you mind bringing doggie back to the Light Music Club and watch over him for a while?"

"Understood." he said and went towards Koga, who was spacing out before he realized someone standing behind him."Don't hold it against me, Oogami."

Without wasting a time, Adonis grabbed hold of Koga's back collar and dragged him away. Due to his great strength, Koga was literally dragged away from the others as he struggled to get away from the hold.

"Whoa, what the-!? Oi, let me go! What the hell do you think you're doing!? Damn it, Adonis, you bastard! LET ME GO!" his voice faded out in the distance before silence surrounded the remaining trio. Letting out a sigh, Rei faced the two females on front of him.

"I apologize that you have to witness that embarrassing side of doggie, Ayase-kun. He doesn't usually lose his cool like that, so I hope you can forgive his behaviour." he gave her a sad smile.

"I-It's okay..." she shook her head while Maki just rolled her eyes because she knew very well how Koga usually acted all the time but nevertheless, remained silent.

"But, I do understand his confusion in this case." he crossed his arms as he began eying their costumes, from head to toe, making both Maki and Eli slightly nervous, especially Eli. Calmly, Rei faced them again, putting his hand under his chin. "Is [μ's] going on a wild look this time?"

"O-Oh, no, no! It's not like that!" Eli quickly denied the question. From there, she began explaining the whole sub-unit within [μ's] that the school introduced for them, how there were 3 sub-units in [μ's] and that she, Maki and Nico were part of [BiBi], the so-called cool and matured side of [μ's].

"I see. So that's why." Rei mumbled to himself. A smile suddenly crept on his face before he started chuckling.

"Well, if I had to be honest, I think this kind of look suits both of you. Reminds me a lot of my own unit. And while we're at it," a smirk appeared on his face as he leaned closer towards Eli, who had to slightly backed away from him from the close distance. "How about considering a collaboration between [UNDEAD] and [BiBi]? As leaders, we ought to think about our units, is it not?"

At that point, Eli was speechless as well as nervous. The way he asked made her shivered in fear. As if she was making a deal with a devil. Well, a vampire to be precise.

"You made it sound like a bribe..." Maki stared at the older male with a suspicious look. Rei chuckled slightly before he shook his head.

"Nonsense. I merely put my unit's benefits first before mine." he shrugged his shoulders before facing Eli once again.

'Benefits, huh?' Maki thought to herself as she stared at the older senior with a skeptical look.

"So, Ayase-kun? What do you think? Interested?" he asked, this time, in a more normal tone than the previous one. Once she calmed down, she unconsciously let out a relieved sigh.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. Sure, I'll consider it." she answered with a smile.

"Good answer." he nodded his head with a smile. "Now then, if you'll excuse me. I have a certain runaway to find at the moment, who suddenly disappeared right after our photoshoot. Anyway, good luck with your search too. I hope you'll find Nico-chan as soon as possible."

He waved slightly before he went upstairs, leaving the two females behind. Once he finally left, Maki and Eli resumed back to their previous search for the petite female.

"Finally, now we can focus back on finding Nico-chan." the red-haired female let out a sigh. However, her statement went unanswered nor paid heed as Eli looked as if she was in deep thought. Confused, Maki turned her head to the side to look at her.

"What's wrong, Eli?" she asked, snapping the blond female back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing... I was just thinking about what Sakuma-san said before." she said. Confused, Maki raised an eyebrow to emphasize her confusion. Eli hesitated before she spoke up again. "Was he, by any chance, talking about Kaoru-kun?"

"Probably. From what I heard from everyone, he always disappeared without anyone noticing, especially when it comes to his unit's practice." Maki shrugged her shoulders, not even slightly bothered about what that flirt was doing at the moment. Eli suddenly stopped walking as she had a guilty look on her face.

"Is...something wrong?" Maki asked, slightly curious about the blond female's actions.

"Well, recently, I bumped into Nozomi, Umi and Rin and I thought I might as well ask them to help us find Nico. But now that I know Kaoru-kun is out there somewhere..." Eli let out a sigh before she continues. "...I may have put Umi in a risky situation."

* * *

Somewhere around the school buildings, a certain cheerful female was humming in a lighthearted tone as she skipped down the hallway.

"Nazuna-kun~?" she called out as she opened a random door and peeked inside. However, no one was around and Nico instantly pouted. Closing the door, she skipped once again and went towards another door.

"Nazuna-kun~?" she called out once again and like the previous one, no one was inside. "Boo..."

Closing the door, she continues her search for the blond male, skipping lightly down the hallway in an easygoing mood. Although she had been searching for him for almost forever, she still remained happy and positive throughout her search. Even though she had to go trough countless of doors back then.

"Oh well~ At least, I know he'll be in any of the rooms somewhere~! I just have to find him as soon as I can!" she squealed as she jumped around. She wanted to show off the new costume she was wearing as a member of [BiBi].

"I wonder what will he thinks of me~?Would it be 'cool'? Maybe 'mature'? Or maybe even, 'sexy'? Hehehe~!" she giggled and continues to go through every single room. She had to admit, it was tiring to do the same peeking inside a room only to find no one and nothing. But for the sake of finding Nazuna, she would do anything.

"Nazuna-kun~?" she opened another random door, only this time, she didn't have to look around as she finally found her target.

"Nico-chan?" Nazuna looked at her with a surprised look. He was in his [Ra*bits]'s Idol costume. Sitting nearby him was the rest of the [Ra*bits]'s members as they also had a look of surprise on their face.

"I finally found you~!" she jumped and glomped him in seconds, leaving the blond male flustered.

"N-N-N-Nico-chan! What are you doing!? More importantly, why are you here!?" he asked, looking even more flustered than before. Nico almost lost herself when she saw a blush on Nazuna's face but she managed to control herself and giggled slightly. Nazuna however, immediately snapped back as he gripped her shoulders tightly and whispered. "Why did you have to come here...!?"

"Aww, I just wanted to see you~! Is that wrong...?" Nico feigned guilty at her last sentence as she gave him a sad look. She was hoping to see his flustered face but instead, he had a horrified look on his face. Surprisingly, even the other members of [Ra*bits] had the same look as their leader which was really suspicious.

"Geez, what's wrong with you guys? Ah, don't tell me! Is it my costume~? Aww, you're going to make me blush looking with those eyes~!" she squealed, blushing slightly.

"Hmm, I wonder about that~?" a female voice suddenly cut in, making Nico's body stiff from the familiarity of the voice.

"D-D-Don't tell me..." she slowly turned her head around and soon enough, she regretted doing so. Leaning on a wall further away from the door, Nozomi stood there with her arms crossed and a teasing smile on her face.

"Found you, Nicocchi~"

* * *

"Oi, Adonis! You can stop dragging me already!" Koga tried to pry the purple-haired male's hand off from his jacket's back collar but due to his strong grip, it was impossible to do so.

"But we haven't arrived in the Light Music Club yet." he said, glancing over at his friend.

"Whatever! I can walk! I won't go anywhere, so let go of me!" he barked and thrashed around, leaving Adonis no choice but to release the grey-haired male. Once he let go of his grip, Koga quickly stood up and straighten his costume. Once he did, he walked away and head towards the Light Music Club. "Sheesh! Don't treat me like I'm a kid, damn it!"

"I had to make sure. You did overreacted just now." Adonis replied, following him from behind.

"Ahh, shut up! Urghh, what a pain... And it all started because of her...!" Koga muttered.

"Who?" Adonis asked, slightly confused who he was refering to. The grey-haired male stopped from his track and faced the purple-haired male.

"Maki, of course! Who else!? Didn't you saw what she was wearing!? T-That, that, that thing!?"

"You just stuttered."

"Shut up! Focus back on the topic!" Koga barked at him, silencing Adonis instantly.

"Yes, I did saw her costume. It was surprising to see her in that kind of costume, but I don't see how that became a problem to you." he commented without showing any expression. Koga began to think whether his friend's brain was working properly or not.

"That's it? Don't you find it embarrassing to just look at her wearing that!? I mean, come on! Didn't you saw how her costume only had one strap!? You could literally see her skin exposed from the neck to the shoulders! What would people think when they saw her like that!? You get what I meant, right!?" Koga asked, urging the purple-haired male to understand his point. However, instead of agreeing with him, he only received a stare from the young man.

 _A silent, judging stare._

"Don't look at me with those judging eyes! I'm just being honest, damn it! Why can't you see what I'm trying to say!? You little-!"

"Adonis-senpai!" a female voice cutting in Koga's sentence caught their attention. Looking at the front, they saw someone running towards them. A female student. Once she got close enough, they finally saw who she was.

"Hoshizora...?" Adonis said, slightly surprised to find the orange-haired female searching for him. It was only when she had reached them that they realized that she was wearing a different type of costume. Definitely way different from Maki and Eli's costume style.

"I'm so glad I found you! I really need your help-nyaa!" Rin pleaded, a desperate look spread all over her face. Koga was surprised to find how brave she was to ask a favour from someone like Adonis. Nevertheless, he was amused at the same time.

"Huh, I'm surprised a girl would be brave enough to ask a favour from you-" Koga's sentence was cut off the moment he turn his head to the side as he saw an unbelievable sight. The sight of Adonis blushing. "WHA-!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU BLUSHING FOR!?"

"N-No... I was-" the purple-haired male snapped back instantly as he thought of explaining himself. Rin, on the other hand, looked confused.

"Oh, so you blushed when you saw THIS kind of costume but you're not even fazed when you saw what Maki WORE earlier!? What!?" the grey-haired male went and raged in his own moment, ignoring the other two people to talk among themselves.

"I-I knew it... I looked weird in this costume, am I?" she asked as she hung her head down.

"No, that's not it. I was just surprised to see you in that costume." Adonis said. Rin glanced up to look at him in the eyes. Adonis gave her a small smile before he continues. "What I'm trying to say is, it suits you, Hoshizora. You looked beautiful."

Koga swore he was about to puke when he heard what the purple-haired male just said. As for Rin, her face was turning red from the compliment she received from him. Nevertheless, she was happy in the inside.

"Ehehe, really? I thought it might not suit me, to be honest... Thank you, Adonis-senpai." she smiled with the blush on her face.

"Oi, stop being mushy with each other and tell us what do you want!" Koga interrupted their conversation. He rather liked it if he wasn't there to witness anything going on between the two of them. His question immediately brought Rin back to her previous flustered self, instantly forgot what had just happened between her and Adonis.

"Ah, that's right-nyaa! You two are from [UNDEAD] right!? Please, you've got to help Umi-chan!" she pleaded.

"Umi?"

"You mean, Sonoda?"

"Yes! Please, you have to do something! Hakaze-senpai haven't stopped bothering her ever since we bumped up into him!" Rin literally looked desperate by each second. It was then, Koga finally realized something that he was supposed to do previously.

"Oh, I totally forgot to search for him..."

* * *

Umi was trying her best to act natural as she walked down the hallway without even paying attention to the male following her from behind. As good as she was when it comes to acting natural, it didn't seem to work at the moment, especially since she had to act like so in front of Hakaze Kaoru.

"So, did I ever tell you that pink looks REALLY cute on you?" he asked as he closed the wide distance between them and walked slightly behind her. As much as she wanted to roll her eyes, she found it unladylike to do so at the moment, even if he couldn't see her face at the moment. Instead, she took it as a chance to fasten her pace.

"Hey, slow down. You're going to trip if you walked that fast with those heels, you know?" he said as he was left behind.

'Well, I would slow down if you weren't following me... In fact, I wouldn't even have to do anything if I hadn't bumped into you...' she thought in her heart. Who would have thought that during their search for Nico, she had an unfortunate meeting with Kaoru. She should have known that her instinct were right and that she should have trusted it. But at the same time, how could she refused Eli's request to help her find Nico? She thought maybe she will be fine since she will be going with Rin to find the petite senior. Turns out it happened nonetheless.

"Umi-chan." he called out, his voice sound closer than previously and Umi could guessed that he took the chance to close the distance between them once again when she was in deep thought. However, just like before, she fastened her pace as well.

"Umi-chan, you're going to lose your balance if you walked like that..."

She wanted to scoff but that would also be unladylike, as well as rude. As much as she didn't liked the flirt, she wouldn't go far by passing the line of loathing towards the male. She was just uncomfortable with his flirty side. Pushing those thoughts aside, she continues to walk faster and away from Kaoru, hoping that the longer she kept it up, he would give up. And if that won't ever happened, at least until she bumped into someone else. Or maybe Rin, assuming nothing happened while she waited.

Unfortunately, things never went your way sometimes.

Due to her constant walking around, her legs was growing tired. Even though she pushed herself to walk, one of her leg was at a limit and without realizing, she accidentally tripped on her own leg.

"Kyahh!" she waited for the impact of the fall but found herself being held back by the shoulders. Looking over her shoulder, she found Kaoru gripping it slightly with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright, Umi-chan?" he asked, his worried expression never left his face. Surprised by the sudden close distance between them, she quickly got out from his hold and took several steps away from him. Surprised and a little bit hurt, Kaoru let out a sigh.

"That's why I've been telling you. Don't walk too fast with those heels. Really, you worry me sometimes..." Kaoru scratched the back of his head. Umi looked over at the flirt with a skeptical look as if he had said something really ridiculous.

"How is it that you're the one who should be worrying about me?" she asked.

"Finally, she talks! I really wanted to hear that voice of yours~" he smiled at her and Umi couldn't help but blush from the sight of his smile. Forcing herself to look away, her actions made Kaoru laughed.

"Really, you can be so adorable at times, you know that~?" he asked, crossing his arms as he smiled at her. Umi had to resist looking over to him as she remained casting her gaze on the floor.

"Well, anyway. I guess seeing your flustered face is good enough for today. Thank you for that, Umi-chan~" he waved his hand at her and walked away.

"W-What...?" she stuttered. She was surprised to know that he was thanking her and at the same time, confused why he did. Looking back at Umi, Kaoru gave her a smirk that was enough to make her blushed brighter than previously. "See you again, Umi-chan."

Watching his figure disappeared from view, Umi was left alone standing in the middle of the empty hallway as she pondered about the whole event that had took place. What was the point of following her around for? Just to see her flustered? To hear her voice? And to top it off, he even thanked her as well?

"I really don't understand him at all..."

* * *

"Nozomi, you idiot!" Nico screamed as she thrashed around from Nozomi's hold around her waist as she was being carried in front of the purple-haired female.

"Stop screaming, Nicocchi. People are going to think something bad happened." Nozomi spoke up as she continues with her walk down the hallway, ignoring all the protests, pleading and screaming from the petite female.

"Let them think so! Because you kidnapped me! Kidnapper!" Nico screamed as she tried to get away from Nozomi's hold around her. It was already embarrassing enough being carried away by Nozomi in front of Nazuna. Now, she had to deal with Nozomi bringing her all the way to the Studio Room.

"Oho~? Trying to make me the bad person huh~? Here, let's see if you can keep on screaming when I do this~" Nozomi immediately let go of the petite female, putting her down on the ground. Without even given a chance to ask or do anything, Nozomi's hands immediately landed on Nico's chest and she started fondling them.

"Kyahh! What are you doing, you idiot!? LET ME GO~!" she screamed a bit more louder than previously and thrashed around from the awkward position.

"Oh, what's wrong? Don't you want people to see what's happening to you? Especially when you're in this current state~?" Nozomi whispered teasingly near Nico's ear. Trembling slightly, Nico glanced behind her and glared at the purple-haired female.

"You'll pay for this, Nozomi...!" she whimpered.

"I HEARD A DESPERATE SCREAM!" a loud voiced suddenly boomed from afar, catching both Nozomi and Nico's attention to the owner of the voice. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Chiaki came out from the left hallway as he skidded to a halt, stopping right in front of them with a pose. "No worries! Ryusei Red is here! And I will-"

The moment he looked over at the two females, he lost his will to continue his heroic speech.

"Gahhhhhh! Toujou! What are you doing!?" Chiaki quickly covered his eyes, turned around and squatted down, refusing to watch what the purple-haired female was doing at the petite female.

"C-Chiaki-kun...? What are you-?"

"Captain! I'm coming over!" a new, yet familiar voice boomed in the area, cutting Nozomi's sentence. Soon enough, Tetora emerged from the left hallway as well.

"Ryusei Black enters the frame! What seems to be the-" and just like Chiaki, he was left speechless and horrified when he saw Nozomi and Nico.

"Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh~! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't see anything! I swear!" he went into the same position as Chiaki as he covered his eyes.

"Captain! Tetora-kun! What happened!? I'm coming over!" another new voice spoke up and this time, Nozomi could guess who it was instantly.

"Don't, Sengoku! Don't come near!" both Chiaki and Tetora shouted in the same desperate tone as they looked over at the direction from the left hallway.

"T-To such an extent that even the Captain himself told me to stay away! I can't let this slide!" like Nozomi predicted, it was Shinobu who appeared next and quickly faced towards them. "Show yourself-!"

The colours on Shinobu's face quickly faded away when he saw Nozomi and Nico.

"UWAAAA~! Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me!" Shinobu also went into the same position as the other previous two.

"Blast! We were too late!" Chiaki balled up a fist and hit the floor, as if he had failed in doing whatever he thought he was supposed to do.

"Midori-kun and Shinkai-senpai too! Stay there and don't come out here!" Tetora pleaded.

"I don't even want to know... Just let me go home now..." Midori spoke up from the left hallway, his figure was blocked by the wall from Nozomi and Nico's position.

"I can't? But, I'm 'curious'. Everyone looks like they're having 'fun'~ Can I 'see'~?" Kanata spoke up next in a lighthearted tone, as if he didn't understand the horrors that Chiaki, Tetora and Shinobu had gone through.

"NO!"

While the members of [RYUSEITAI] continues with their silly drama amongst themselves, Nozomi and Nico stared at them with an incredulous look, especially Nico. Throughout the whole thing, starting from Chiaki, it all seemed as if she was watching a very bad comedy. It was so bad that she didn't even care about her awkward position anymore.

"I know they're just overreacting but I'm still blaming this on you..." Nico muttered lowly as she glanced at the purple-haired female behind her. Nozomi could only let out a nervous chuckle as a response.

* * *

It was undeniable that the moment Kuro heard the second scream echoed in the distance, his curiousity immediately faded away.

"I know that voice all too well..." he mumbled, standing in the middle of an empty hallway. Letting out a sigh, he turned on his heels and began heading back to his classroom, where he previously worked on his costume.

Initially, he planned on going straight home once his unit [Akatsuki] finished their photoshoot. But due to him receiving several requests to help in designing costumes for the upcoming events, he had to stay over as he did his work.

Several seconds later, another scream echoed in the distance and Kuro finally confirmed that the source of the screams he heard in the distance were nothing more than just [RYUSEITAI] with their usual antics.

"They sure are being energetic today." he said. Right when he was about to go upstairs, a female's voice called out to him.

"Kiryu-senpai?"

Turning around, his eyes landed on a familiar face. It was Kotori, all by herself as she walked towards him.

"Oh, it's you huh? What are you doing here?" he asked, stopping in his tracks as he faced her. The graying-brown haired female smiled at him.

"It's nothing really. I was going to send this back to the Infirmary, that's all." she replied. It was then Kuro noticed the Aid-Kit in her arms. Confused, he looked at her.

"Were you hurt?" he asked. Kotori jumped slightly, surprised by the question he gave to her. Giggling, she shook her head with a smile before she explained what happened earlier with her friends and [Trickstar].

"I see. So that's why." he mumbled out as he crossed his arms and looked at her. "You said you have another photoshoot after this right?"

"Yep. That's why I have to send this over quick so I can get back to my friends in front of the Studio Room~" she chirped, smiling widely. Looking over at the grayish-brown haired female's costume, Kuro realized that it did looked different than [μ's]' main Idol costume.

"I take it you're the one making the costumes for all of them?" he asked. Kotori immediately nodded her head several times, the excited look on her face remained. Kuro couldn't help but smile at her sudden excitement.

"I was really excited, you know~? It's true that we were pretty shocked about the whole sub-units news for us [μ's]. Plus, the sudden tasks to make costumes for each of our sub-units was pretty stressful..." Kotori's mouth started running on her own as she talked about the past.

"Oh but you know? Despite the rush and the stressful times, I enjoyed it~ Thinking how all of them would look in their costumes makes my heart flutters in happiness~" she chirped. Kuro could only stared at her in surprise. He felt as if she was talking to herself and completely forgot about his presence. However, it didn't stopped him from chuckling. From there, Kotori snapped out of her daydream.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to force you to hear all of that!" she apologized and bowed down slightly.

"It's fine. You were so excited talking about it that I couldn't bring myself to stop you." he waved it off while Kotori hung her head low in embarrassment.

"You really liked making costumes for them, don't you?" he asked. Kotori slowly raised her head to look at the red-haired male in front of her. Slowly, a smile crept back to her face and she nodded her head. Smiling slightly, Kuro suddenly took the Aid-Kit from Kotori's arms.

"Huh? W-Wait! Kiryu-senpai, what are you doing?" the grayish-brown haired female asked, panicking slightly as she gripped the Aid-Kit back. In response, Kuro shrugged his shoulders and quickly pulled the Aid-Kit out from Kotori's grip.

"Don't worry about it. You have a photoshoot to do right now, right? You should go while you have the chance. I can take care of this." he said as he turned around, ready to leave.

"But-"

"I told you before right? I'm always free to help out. Be it a classmate, a friend or even a fellow costume designer like you." he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "So you could at least accept my offer."

Speechless, Kotori stood there as she stared at the red-haired male before she spoke up.

"Thank you, Kiryu-senpai. I really wished that I could repay you somehow." she smiled shyly at him before casting her gaze downwards.

"No need. I'm happy enough to be able to help people out." he said before he walked upstairs and waved his hand slightly at her. "Good luck with your photoshoot, Minami."

"Yes, I'll do my best!" she replied with enthusiasm.

"Oh, right. Minami." he called out to her. Kotori turned around, facing Kuro as well. Seconds passed by before he smirked. "You looked great in that costume, by the way."

The moment those words left his mouth, Kotori's face immediately flushed red.

"H-Huh!? I-I-I-Is that so!? T-T-T-Thank you! U-Um, I uh, e-excuse me!" she quickly speed off from the hallway, leaving the red-haired male behind as he watched her figure disappeared from view.

"Huh, what's wrong with her? I was just trying to encourage her."

* * *

If Hanayo knew that going to the Studio Room would lead her to meet that CERTAIN someone, she would have actually offered herself to go send the Aid-Kit instead before heading over. The moment she and Honoka arrived, [Knights] had just finished their photoshoot and Hanayo immediately tensed the moment she saw Izumi. As for now, she could only avoid looking straight into his eyes, focusing fully at Arashi in front of her.

"My, my~! You girls looked gorgeous~! And I love your costumes! The colours reminds me of the flowers blooming in the Spring~!" Arashi squealed as he took one of Honoka and Hanayo's hands each into his own, squeezing it lightly.

"That's exactly what [Printemps] means~! It means 'Spring'~!" Honoka cheered, equally excited as the blond male.

"Oh my~ That sounds really lovely! Don't you boys think so~?" Arashi looked over to the other members of [Knights], starting with Tsukasa.

"Yes, they do gave off an impression of the Spring season. It is quite a refreshing look." Tsukasa nodded his head after he took a look over at their costumes. Nodding his head in approval, Arashi went to look over at their leader, Leo.

"What about you, King?" Arashi asked the orange-haired male but he was so into writing a new composition that he totally ignored the blond male, slightly disappointed Arashi in the process.

"Ritsu-chan?" he asked the next member, looking a bit eager.

"They look good in anything to be honest..." he mumbled out. He was mumbling so softly that it almost sounds like he was whispering.

"Is he talking in his sleep...?" Honoka laughed lightly at her classmate, Ritsu, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Everyone could only chuckle weakly at the sight of the sleeping black-haired male. They weren't even sure if he was actually talking about the girls or if it was something else.

Arashi let out a sigh before he turned his head over to the last member of [Knights].

"What about you, Izumi-chan...?" Arashi asked the grey-haired male, this time however, not as eager and excited as he was with the others. Because it was not just Arashi alone in this matter but everyone in [Knights] knew why the blond male would ask Izumi's opinion last. For Hanayo, she knew it all too well.

Looking over at the grey-haired male, everyone could see he was staring at the two females at the moment although he was actually staring straight at Hanayo. Letting out a long sigh, Izumi crossed his arms and pointed a finger at Hanayo.

"M-M-Me?" the young brunette stuttered, panic began to fill her up as she thought of the worse scenarios that could happen.

Without saying anything, he gestured her to come closer. At first she hesitated but the glare she received from him for her hesitation, quickly made obeyed his order and stood near him. From there, Izumi started whispering something into her ear, preventing anyone from listening what he was telling her at the moment.

Somehow the sight between the two made everyone anxious as well as curious. Suddenly, Hanayo squeaked, flinching at the same time as she stood frozen on her spot. Not long after that, Izumi pulled away from her and smirked, crossing his arms afterward.

Hanayo turned around and walked back to Honoka and Arashi with her face flushed bright red.

"Hanayo-chan, what's wrong? What did he said?" Honoka asked, worried over the young brunette's condition.

"H-H-H-H-H-H-H-He said...I-I-I-I-I-" she stuttered as if she had become a broken doll.

"Go on. What is it?" Arashi urged her, growing anxious by seconds. Taking a couple of deep breath, she finally got her grip back and spoke up.

"H-He said...I was...CUTE...!"

Silence surrounded the crowd. Until...

"EHHHHHH!?" everyone screamed in shocked.

"Izumi-chan, are you being serious!?" Arashi turned around to face him, a shocking expression spread all over his face.

"Who knows? Maybe I was playing around...or maybe I wasn't~" he said with a teasing tone in his voice. Hanayo once again flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by Arashi. The blond male looked over at his friend again, this time, with a skeptical look.

"Izumi-chan, what exactly did you tell her?" he asked but the grey-haired male only shrugged his shoulder as a response, the smirk still remained on his face. Amidst all of the confusion and panic, Leo suddenly burst out laughing.

"The tsundere remains a tsundere! You never fail to amuse me, you tsundere~!" Leo excitedly poked fun at Izumi, pointing his finger at the grey-haired male and laughing afterward.

"Will you drop the whole 'tsundere' thing already!? You're seriously getting on my nerves!" From there, the start of a grand chase between Leo and Izumi started, leaving the rest of them behind as they questioned what had took place while Hanayo remained traumatized.

Honoka turned around to face Hanayo before she hugged the young brunette.

"There, there. You've been through a lot, haven't you?" she petted the young brunette's head as Hanayo nodded her head.

* * *

 **And it's done~! Yeah, I know, I know. Not everyone was reacting about their costumes except for what was requested up there (which if I had to be honest, I loved so MUCH since I'm a big shipper for the UNDEAD members with their respective partners~)**

 **Now that I noticed, how long did I took to post this chapter? Hahahaha~! It was so exciting writing this chapter but I was like, how am I going to make all of them react to the costumes without crossing the lines? Anyhow, I'm sorry if the chapter is not satisfying, dear requester and readers! (*bows down on the floor)**

 **For our newest reviewer Hidemi0512 who asked for a request, I'm so sorry to tell you that the request session is closed for now! I'm sorry! BUT! No worries~! All pairing chapters that I originally planned will grow more intense/intimate in the future chapters~! (Including ChiaNozo too~!) Of course, I will open the request session soon after a few more chapters~! So be sure to look out for it~!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	36. Playing is More Fun (Honoka & Trickstar)

**Coming up next, the 11th request, from Fangirloid~!**

 **Fangirloid requested =** **"Subaru and Honoka goofing around"**

 **Had to admit though, these two would definitely looked like twins, who loves to play around. Fufufu~**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 34: Playing is More Fun (Honoka & Trickstar)

"Hokke..." Subaru murmured, his face laid flat on a table. His upper body was laying down on the table with his arms slumping at the side. He looked as if he had no energy to do anything, nor speaking up. Meanwhile, Hokuto's state was the opposite of the orange-haired male. He was sitting in his seat, going through some documents with intense focus, looking more refreshed and composed than his friend.

"What is it?" he asked, not even sparing a single look at the orange-haired male as his eyes remained glued on the documents.

"Can't we do this another day...? It's too hot to do any practices today... I feel like fainting at any time..."

"Bear with it, Akehoshi. If this heat proves to be too much for you, you should think of a way to get used to it since we'll be having a lot of events in the upcoming Summer." the black-haired male simply replied to his question as if it was the easiest thing to do. Subaru whined even louder but Hokuto continued to ignore the orange-haired male.

"Hokuto-kun..." another voice spoke up and this time, Hokuto finally peeled his eyes off of the documents as he looked in front of him. Across of him, Honoka sat in the same position as Subaru, staring at him with pleading eyes.

"Can I go home now...? It's too hot..." she whined.

"No."

"Oh, come on!" she stood up, still facing the black-haired male with an even more desperate expression on her face. "I already did my part in taking notes and discussing all that was needed for your unit! Can't we all just go home and relaxed in a nice, cold place to get rid of this heat!?"

Hokuto stared at the ginger-haired female for a while before he went back to read through the documents, completely evading her eyes.

"The fact that you had the energy to shout at me is enough to show me that you can still bear with this heat."

Honoka stared at him with wide eyes as if she was struck with an arrow from his blunt reply. Falling down to her seat, she went back to the same position as before. After letting out a painful moan, Honoka remained quite as she sat still on her seat. Hokuto finally let out a soft relieved sigh as silence came back and filled the room. That was until someone opened a door.

"We're back!" Makoto came in, followed by Mao. Makoto had 3 canned juice in his arms while Mao had two. The moment the two arrivals came in, they realized something was off. Exchanging looks between the people in the room, they wondered what happened.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Makoto asked.

"Ukki~! Please tell Hokke to let us go home~!" Subaru whined as he suddenly latched himself onto the bespectacled male, catching him off guard.

"Uwahh! A-Akehoshi-kun, don't cling to me like that!"

"Mao-kun too! Do something about your leader~!" Honoka whined afterward as she latched herself onto the violet-haired male, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"W-What's gotten into you!? And why are you asking my help for that...?" Mao quickly peeled the ginger-haired female off of him. While everyone was preoccupied with their current problems, Hokuto could only looked at them with tired eyes before letting out a sigh.

* * *

Once they managed to calm the two whining students, the whole room went back to its' previous calm silence.

"Huh, I see. So they just want to go back home huh?" Mao asked, looking over at the two students. They were back into their previous pose as before, except now they looked a bit refreshed after drinking the canned juice that both Makoto and Mao had bought earlier.

"Exactly. And we haven't even start our practice yet." Hokuto said, arranging the documents in its' proper order before clipping them together.

"Well, I can understand why they want to go home. This heat IS a bit too much today." Mao crossed his arms and looked outside through the window. Just by looking at the bright weather outside was enough to tell that it was too hot to stay outside for a long time. The sun shone brightly in the sky and only a couple of clouds could be seen floating around which really didn't helped cover the ground a lot.

"Well, it's almost Summer after all. You can just tell it's coming soon~" Makoto chirped. Shaking his head, Hokuto stood up from his seat.

"Anyway, I'm going to hand these documents to Anzu first since our 'Sub-Producer' here is in no condition to do her work." Hokuto said without even sparing a glance at the mentioned person.

"I heard that...!" Honoka cut off but the black-haired male paid no heed.

"In any case, wait here until then. Keep an eye on both of them in the meantime." Hokuto left the room along with the documents. Once he was out of view and the door finally closed, Subaru sat up and crossed his arms.

"Boo~! Hokke's too serious! He should totally try to relax, once in a while!" he complained. Right after that, Honoka did the same and crossed her arms as well.

"Yeah! Doesn't he realized that practicing in a weather like this is going to tire him out?" she nodded her head, puffing out her cheeks. Mao looked over at the two before crossing his arms.

"First of all, Hokuto is not like you two. And secondly, you two whined too much about the heat." he said. Subaru turned his head to face the violet-haired male with a hurtful look on his face.

"Sari, you meanie! Didn't you said earlier that you understood why we wanted to go home~!? You even admitted that the heat today is too much!" he had tears forming at the corner of his eyes as he stared at the violet-haired male with his watery eyes.

"I did said that but I didn't say that I agree with you guys..." he shrugged his shoulders, not even slightly bothered with his direct honesty.

"Mao-kun is so evil... Toying with our feelings like this..." Honoka looked at Mao with disappointed look.

"I'm just saying the truth."

"Haaa... If only there's a place where we could cool off..." Honoka laid her head down on the table once again with her whole body went limp from her seat, followed after Subaru who also did the same.

"Yeah... I could totally go for a swim right now..." Subaru said. Silence filled the room. Not long after that, both Subaru and Honoka stood up from their seat at the same time and looked at each other.

"Subaru-kun!"

"Honoka-chan!"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking~!?" Honoka asked, her face beamed with excitement. Without saying anything, Subaru nodded his head several times, indicating an equally excited feeling he has like the ginger-haired female. While both of them were preoccupied with whatever they were doing, Makoto and Mao stared at the duo in front of them with suspicious looks.

"Somehow I have a bad feeling about this..." Makoto mumbled.

* * *

"What exactly is going on here...?" Hokuto asked almost intimidatingly as he stared at situation in front of him, standing from the entrance to the school's pool area.

Subaru and Honoka each had a hose with them. With the water running out from the mouth of the hose, the two of them pinch the front of the hose, forcing the water to burst out harshly as they aimed at each other. They were both drenched in their school's sport clothes and yet, they didn't seem to bother as they continue to spray the water at each other. They were so into their activity that they failed to notice the menacing aura emitted from Hokuto.

"H-Hidaka-kun... It's not what it looks like! We tried to stop them but-" Makoto tried to explain but the look on Hokuto's face made him froze as he wondered if he only made it worse. Feeling a little bit pressured, Makoto turned around to face Subaru and Honoka.

"Come on you two! Stop playing with the water!" he went after them, hoping to stop the two students before Hokuto finally burst out. It didn't took him a second to get dragged into the duo's water fight as the bespectacled male ended up getting drenched as well. Meanwhile, Mao could only facepalmed himself before turning over to look at his leader.

"Sorry about this, Hokuto. We tried, we really tried."

Hearing the violet-haired male's apologies immediately calmed the black-haired male. Letting out a long sigh, Hokuto pinched the bridge of his nose before facing Mao.

"Don't worry about it. I knew leaving those two for a second would lead to something like this. Although I didn't expect them to go to such lengths to play water at the pool..." he said while Mao let out a nervous chuckle.

"Well, if I had to be honest, this might actually be a good chance for them to cool off for a while." he said with a smile. "Once they're done cooling themselves, we can just get back to practice."

"I wonder..." Hokuto looked over at the trio. Even Makoto himself seemed like he was having fun playing with the water. Chuckling, Mao crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"As long as they're satisfied in the end, I think it'll work out. For now, let them have their fun." once those word left Mao's mouth, a water was sprayed from behind his head before it stopped.

The whole situation went silent as Hokuto watched the violet-haired male with wide eyes. Mao remained standing at his spot and in the same pose as he tried to process what had happened, with his whole head drenched with water as a couple strands of hair stuck on his face. Chuckling out slightly, Mao tried to think positively.

"Well, I did said that we should let them have fun. So... I guess I can overlook this one..."

Once again, a water was sprayed at his head, drenching him even more and this time, even his clothes were drenched. Hokuto still had the same expression on his face. He stared at the violet-haired male with concern before looked past Mao's shoulder, where he saw both Subaru and Honoka snickering playfully while Makoto had the same reaction as Hokuto.

"Oho, I see where this is going..." Mao spoke up in a low voice, catching Hokuto's attention back to him. He could see the violet-haired male trembled slightly. Mao slowly turned around and the sight of his face was enough to make both Subaru and Honoka stopped snickering as they stared wide eyes at the violet-haired male. Even Makoto went pale from the sight of Mao's deadly eyes.

"I hope both of you are ready to play a **real** water fight...!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Honoka, Subaru and Makoto screamed in fright as they ran away from the angry Mao, who already had a hose in his hand out of nowhere. Just by looking at the sight alone was enough to give Hokuto another huge headache.

"When will we ever have a proper practice...?"

* * *

 **Poor Hokuto, it must be hard to keep an eye on both Subaru and Honoka as they LOVE to play around. Even worst when the other members of [Trickstar] also joined (or dragged in Mao's case). Fufufufu~ Sorry it took me a while dear requester and readers! I had other things to settle as well as...personal problems~! But don't worry about me! What matters is that I'm still alive and loyal to this story.**

 **All right, with this chapter fresh out from the oven, that means all of the requests that all of you sent to me have been completed~! Now, it's time to focus back to the main flow of the story where we will be diving into the Summer season! Huhuhu, I wonder what's going to happen after this~? Stay tune to know the story, as well as they relationship progress~ AND DON'T FORGET! Once Special Chapter has been released, the request session will open once again~ Don't worry, I'll be sure to put a notice to inform about the request session~!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this last request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	37. Just a Nightmare (Eli & Rei)

**I deeply apologized for this sudden chapter, but this is actually the FINAL request, from Zindakku Hirokai!**

 **Zindakku Hirokai** **requested =** **"** **Eli has a Thriller-like vampire dream about Rei** **"**

 **I had to put this out because I forgot to mention over at that the requests have closed. So, yeah. Enjoy one more request chapter!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 35: Just a Nightmare (Eli & Rei)

A long sigh escaped through Eli's lips as she walked down the sidewalk, heading straight to her school. Massaging her temple, Eli tried her best to get rid of a headache she had at the moment.

"How many times does this make, as of now...? I really need to stop thinking about it too much..." she asked herself. Letting out another sigh, she massaged her temple again.

"Elicchi~ Good morning~" a familiar voice called out to her. Turning her head around, Eli saw a familiar purple-haired female walking towards her with a cheerful look on her face.

"Oh, Nozomi. Good morning." the blond female waved her hand slightly as she waited for her friend to catch up. "You looked happy today. Something happened?"

"Hehe~ Well, let's just say, something good is bound to happen today." Nozomi chirped and winked at the blond female. Eli could only muster a soft chuckle. The only good thing she wanted right now was for her headache to disappear. Of course, that would be impossible for now.

"I...see. Well, if that's the case, I do hope it'll happen soon." Eli said, as softly as she could before both of them continued with their walk. It was a long, silent walk which was pretty unusual for them. Usually, they would engaged into conversation with Nozomi being the one to start the conversation. Eli wanted to ask but somehow, due to her previous headache, she kept her mouth shut, still trying to recover from it. Not long after that, Nozomi finally spoke up.

"Hey, Elicchi. Are you okay?" Nozomi asked.

"Huh?" surprised, Eli turned her head around to face the purple-haired female. It was certainly an unexpected question that she received from Nozomi. "What do you mean?"

Nozomi let out a soft sigh before she faced the sidewalk in front of her.

"Elicchi, we've been friends for so long that I could tell at a glance that you're hiding something." Nozomi said almost blatantly. Busted, Eli thought to herself and yet, she secretly agreed with Nozomi's statement. She knew it was futile to hide something from Nozomi. Despite her playful nature, Nozomi have a keen eye whenever she saw something was off. Apparently, she was also good in sensing something wrong too.

"Well? " Nozomi asked, finally looking back to glance at the blond female. Eli remained silent as she stood at her spot. Letting out a sigh, she decided to give up and told the purple-haired female her problems.

"I guess...it wouldn't hurt to tell you about it..." Eli began to walk again and Nozomi followed closely. It wasn't long after that, she turned and faced Nozomi with a serious face. "But promise me that you won't laugh!"

"Hehehe, I wonder~ After all, it's the only way to see Elicchi's embarrassed face~" Nozomi chuckled and gave her a teasing smile.

"Nozomi!"

"Alright, alright~ I won't laugh, I promise." the purple-haired female stuck out her tongue playfully, causing Eli to let out a sigh. Once Eli gathered up enough resolve, she finally spoke up.

"Well, remembered the photoshoot we did several days ago?" she asked, turning around to face Nozomi. The purple-haired female nodded her head in response. "It started right after that day... I've been having a nightmare of-"

* * *

She didn't realized how long she had been running down the empty street. When she thought about it, everything around her felt familiar. The houses, the lampposts, and even the trees. It felt as if she had been running around in circle, bringing her back to the same empty street, no matter which direction she took.

Slowing down, she finally had the chance to catch her breath. She had been running for a while and she was in desperate need of air. However, a question came into her mind. What was she running away from?

Looking behind her, she realized that she was all alone. No one was around, no lights can be seen from any of the houses. It was just her, all alone in the empty, eerie street. Weird, she thought. She knew she was running away from someone, or something. But what was it?

It happened right after she faced the front once again, a living, rotten corpse suddenly appeared in front of her, moaning as if in pain.

"Kyahhhh!" she screamed and fell backwards. And all of the sudden, a song she recognized as 'Thriller' by Micheal Jackson suddenly played out of nowhere.

"WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?" she panicked from the confusion.

While the song played in the background, the previous corpse slowly made it's way towards Eli. While the female blond desperately dragged herself backwards, it wasn't long after that, she bumped into something behind her. Turning around, she found another rotten corpse staring at her.

Screaming once again, she pulled herself up from the ground in a hurry and ran away. Without even sparing a look behind, she continued to run. At the same time, she finally noticed several rotten corpses suddenly raised from the ground and chased after her.

While she ran for her life, she could still hear the music playing in the background, as if mocking her situation from being chased by the weird creatures.

"I know I listened to that song right before I sleep but this is too much!" she screamed out, as if trying to tell someone out there to stop playing the stupid song. Surprisingly, none of the corpses were bothered by it. And THANKFULLY, none of them started dancing.

Shaking her head, Eli put all of her focus on running, ignoring the song, the corpses and everything else.

"Please... Just, please..." Eli shut her eyes tight. Tears were starting to form inside her eyes and she almost cried. Opening her eyes, she desperately wished to get out from her current situation. "Stop it... Just make it stop!"

As if right on cue, the song suddenly stopped and Eli thought she was finally out from trouble. However, it was at that moment, that she suddenly tripped and fell on the ground. She could hear the corpses voices getting closer. Looking behind, she realized that the corpses were still there, reaching out to grab her. Trying to get up, she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her ankle. It was then, she realized that she had sprained her ankle.

"No... No, no, no... Not like this...!" she covered her mouth, trying to prevent herself from crying out. She was scared and the fact that she was going to get captured and became God knows what was going to happen to her. Closing her eyes and covering her mouth, she deeply wished that it was all just an imagination and that it was just in her head.

When she felt a hand touching her shoulder, she tensed and began to thrash around.

"No!" she screamed, swinging her arms around to protect herself from any contact. Then, something grabbed both her wrists and the blond female began to thrash around and screamed even harder than before. Eyes still closed, she tried as best as she could to resist. However...

"Ayase-kun!" a voice called out to her and slowly she stopped. The voice sounded familiar and she couldn't help herself but to look at who it was. Slowly opening her eyes, her eyes landed on a familiar face.

"Sakuma-san...?" once those words left her mouth, tears began to slide down her cheeks. Rei was the only one in the area and all the rotten corpses that she saw earlier were nowhere to be found. She was trembling and now that a familiar face was in front of her, she couldn't even describe how relieved she felt at that moment.

"I believe you once mentioned to me, that you were afraid of the dark? What are you doing out here?" he asked. His eyes gave off the impression that he was worried over the blond female's condition.

"I-I-I..." she stuttered. Her breath hitched, preventing her from speaking. Rei gave her a small smile as of to reassure her that everything was fine. Extending his hand to her, he asked. "Can you stand?"

Eli wanted to speak up but her voice failed her. As if she had lost her voice completely. Instead, she looked over at her sprained ankle, hoping that Rei would understood her message. The black-haired male looked over to her ankle before giving her a small smile, as if to reassure her.

"Alright then." he said. Without a proper warning, he suddenly carried her in bridal style, surprising the blond female from the sudden action. Without saying anything, the black-haired male walked towards a nearby bench in an empty park.

Eli was worried if somehow the rotten corpses were going to come out again as she looked around frantically. Rei noticed her panicked state before he petted her head softly.

"It's alright. Everything is fine." he soothed her down. Eli wanted to but at the same time, she couldn't. She was afraid. She felt as if something was bound to happen. It was then she suddenly felt Rei's hands clasped with hers. Looking up, she saw him staring at her.

"Do you trust me...?" he asked. Eli stared back in silence. It was weird in both ways. The question and the situation. It was weird why he asked that question and yet, at the same time, she felt as if that question had been asked several times before. Despite that, she nodded her head. She discarded all of her doubts and worries so that she could bring herself to trust Rei.

She went into his embrace, leaning her head to his shoulder. Rei chuckled slightly and petted her head. She felt safe. And that's all that matters.

"Foolish little child..."

In an instant, she felt a deep, sharp pain piercing through her skin at her neck. It hurt so much that she wanted to scream but her voice, once again, failed her. When the sharp feeling finally left her skin, Eli's eyes instantly zoomed in on Rei's fangs. Blood dripping from his teeth while he smirked at her.

It was then she realized, everything that was happening right now was indeed familiar. Because it had happened before, many times. And died in his hands.

"Didn't he told you once? Never trust a monster like me...?" he asked and right after that, she blacked out.

* * *

"...and that's how it has always been." Eli ended her story before she glanced over at her friend beside her. Nozomi seemed surprised and uncomfortable but her eyes also gave off that she was interested.

"Hmm, is that so? It must have been tough huh, Elicchi? Especially since you're scared of the dark..." Nozomi put her finger on her chin as she began to re-imagine the whole story.

"But still, why did that song suddenly appeared in the dream...?" Nozomi wondered out loud, confused and slightly uncomfortable.

"Probably because Rin suddenly brought MJ's album during our practices and danced to it..."

"Yeah, I know, but...why THAT song?"

"Honestly, I don't WANT to remember why... Nor do I even care..." Eli could only let out a sigh after that. Just retelling the story was enough to tire her out, she definitely didn't want to remember anything regarding the dream. In fact, she preferred if it she just stopped thinking about it.

"But really, Sakuma Rei, huh? Now that's something that I haven't heard you talking about for a long time~ Especially when you-" Nozomi gave her a sideway glance with a teasing smirk.

"Nozomi... That happened a long time ago. It's not a big deal..." Eli cut her off while giving her a serious look.

"Aww, Elicchi is being no fun~ Back then, you and Sakuma-san were like-"

"I'm leaving you behind!" Eli quickly fastened her pace, leaving the purple-haired female behind.

"E-Elicchi~! I was just trying to lift up the mood!" she shouted back as she ran after the blond female, trying to catch up. However, Eli had already gone ahead and arrived at the school. She knew Nozomi didn't have any bad intention, but Eli really didn't want to remember what happened in the past.

Going upstairs, she quickly turned around the corner, only to bump into someone. Looking up, it turned out to be Sakuma Rei.

"Kyahh! S-Sakuma-san!" she unconsciously screamed. Rei flinched slightly and closed his eyes from the scream while Eli quickly covered her mouth, realizing her mistake.

"Hrmm... Please refrain yourself from screaming... It hurts my head..." he mumbled out softly, eyes still closed while he hold his head with one of his hand. Eli felt bad for screaming but how could she not? She just had a stupid nightmare about this young man and only recently, Nozomi almost made her recalled the past between her and Rei. Of course, she would be surprised to suddenly found the man appearing in front of her.

"A-Are you okay?" she asked, nevertheless. Rei finally opened his eyes and looked at the blond female standing in front of him.

"Oh, it's you huh, Ayase-kun...?" he gave her a weak smile as he waved a hand at her. "I'm fine... I'm fine. I just need to go to the Light Music Club for a while..."

"D-Do you need want me to help you out?" Eli asked, still feeling guilty over what happened. Rei let out a soft chuckled before he shook his head.

"As kind as ever Ayase-kun... However, I can managed myself. After all, I need to get used to walking around in this wicked sunlight, now that Summer is coming soon... Still, thank you for the kind offer." he finally gave her a proper smile, surprising the blond female as she stared at him with wide eyes. Unlike the Rei she saw in her dreams, the one standing in front of her felt more...real. Not because she was trying to distinguish between a dream and reality but because, the one in front of her felt more...natural.

"You've really changed..." she mumbled out.

"Hmm?" Rei tilted his head in confusion while Eli shook her head, smiling at him.

"It's nothing. I'll...be going then. See you later." she waved her hand and quickly left the area. As she made her way to her class, she suddenly remembered his smile earlier. A big, earnest smile. A small smile suddenly crept up on her face as she recalled back her previous nightmare.

'You're not like that...' she thought. Her heart suddenly felt lighter. As if a heavy thought have been lifted. Somehow, she felt as if she didn't have to worry about the nightmares anymore.

'Hopefully...' she thought.

* * *

~ Extra ~

"Good morning." Eli greeted as she entered the classroom. Surprisingly, Nozomi was already inside the classroom. And Eli thought she arrived first. She realized that Chiaki was standing next to the purple-haired female as he waved at her.

"Yo! Morning, Ayase!" he greeted, grinning widely.

"Good morning, Chiaki-kun." when Eli walked closer, she realized that Nozomi was pouting at her. Confused, she gave her a questioning look. "What's wrong, Nozomi?"

Nozomi, however, remained silent as she looked away, still pouting. Chiaki gave out a nervous laugh while Eli was still confused. Looking at the male brunette, she expected an answer.

"Yeah..." he dragged his word as he scratched the back of his neck. "So, Toujou mentioned something about you leaving her behind. That's why she's like this."

He emphasized the purple-haired female beside him, still pouting and a little upset. Just a little. Laughing out nervously, Eli pressed both of her palms in front of her.

"Right... Sorry about that, Nozomi..." she apologized.

"You better treat me for lunch today, Elicchi..." Nozomi concluded.

* * *

 **Yeah, let me put this out for you. I can't resist teasing Eli and Rei. Aha~! It shows how much I loved this pairing~ Even though I was cringing the whole time during the dream scene~ Ohohohoho~!**

 **And yes, for those who might be wondering if there is something going on between Eli and Rei in the past, yes, something DID happened. But no, I won't tell. That's up to your imagination...for now~**

 **Finally, and I mean, FINALLY, all of the requests are done! Whew! It was a good experience to try and write prompts from you guys! And it certainly was a good chance for me both in improving my writing as well as increasing my experience! A big THANK YOU to all of you for giving contributions for this story. You might not know this, but your prompts and requests, more or less, have given me an opportunity to reveal some parts that might not be a big deal to read about in the story but it still matters. Seriously, this chapter itself, also gave you a hint about what was going on between those two. So yeah, long story short, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read the story and this last request chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	38. Class 1A - Handling the Heat

**IT'S SUMMER~! When I said Summer, I meant it in the story~ Guess what? We're back into the storyline! Since it's Summer, I wonder how things will progress from here on out? Alright, less typing, more reading~! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 36: Handling the Heat (Class 1A)

"URGHHHHH...!" Tetora groaned as he laid his upper body on his desk. He had his face flat on the desk with his arms hanging at the side. He also had a pained look on his face and the same could be said for the rest of his classmates.

Tomoya was trying his best to cool himself with a paper fan as he switched between him and Hajime. As for the light-blue haired boy, he looked as if he was about to faint at any moment. It was thanks to Tomoya, it didn't happen. Midori, who had remained silent ever since their first class, had the same pose as Tetora as he laid his face on his desk and mumbled on by himself. Maki was fanning herself with her own hand slowly as she gazed outside the window while Hanayo used a book instead to fan herself. Hinata had left the classroom. God knows where he went but everyone knew that even he had trouble dealing with the heat.

Long story short, it was a HOT day today. Plus, there was a power shortage at the moment,making it EXTRA hot today.

"IT'S...! TOO...! HOT...!" Tetora groaned even louder than the previous one, catching everyone's attention to the black-haired male. Everyone was too tired to reply to Tetora's complaint, except for a certain red-haired female.

"Ugh, will you be quite? Your complaints are making this heat even worse..." Maki retorted as she looked at him with an annoyed look.

"BUT MAKI! DOESN'T THIS HEAT BOTHERED YOU!?" he asked, fully facing her. Maki could only let out a long sigh as she looked at the weather outside.

"Well, it IS a bit too much today..."

"RIGHT...!?"

"But that doesn't mean you could whined about it at us...!" Maki shot him a glare. Apparently, the heat wasn't only just bothering her, it also raised her anger, which was not a good thing at the moment. She really doesn't want to lash out to Tetora or anyone.

Maki let out a sigh once again before she gave him a tired look.

"Look, just be quite and you'll get used to it soon..." she replied weakly before she continued to fan herself.

"But Nishikino-san, you don't look good yourself... Are you okay?" Tomoya asked with a worried look on his face. However, the red-haired female shrugged her shoulder in response.

"Hey..." a male's voice spoke up and everyone's attention went to the owner of the voice, Midori. He was facing at the others with his head still laid on the desk.

"How long do you think this power shortage is going to last...? I'm dying here..." Midori said.

"I'm pretty sure we're all are at the moment..." Tetora mumbled out. Right after that, the whole room fell into complete silence as everyone went back to deal with their own struggle with the heat.

"I-I'm sure the teachers are working on fixing it back... So, all we can do now is wait." Hanayo spoke up, breaking the silence in the class as she looked at everyone. Their teacher did left the room right after the power shortage happened. Probably went out to find out what was the cause. Not to mention that the teacher still haven't come back to their class.

"Assuming if they can fix it soon..." Tetora mumbled softly as if he had no energy left.

"Ah! IT'S TOO HOT!" he shouted as he suddenly stood up, surprising everyone in the class.

"Ugh...there he goes again..." Maki stared at the black-haired male with half-lidded eyes, the feeling of annoyance came back.

"C-C-Calm down, Tetora-kun! I-I'm sure the teachers are working on it." Hanayo tried to calm the black-haired male down.

"But it's taking too long! The teacher's not even back yet! Plus, Hinata is not back yet too!" he complained. At the mention of Hinata's name, everyone looked around the classroom. Just as Tetora mentioned, the older twin still haven't come back.

"Now that you mentioned it, where did he go? He sure is taking his time out there..." Tomoya wondered out loud, as he had a cautious look on his face. He somehow had a feeling that the older twin might caused a problem out there somewhere.

"Maybe he went to the toilet to cool off...?" Hajime spoke up, after keeping silent for a long time. His suggestion made everyone wondered. Whether it was true or not, he was taking too long. And being gone for too long tends to raise suspicion.

"Meh... If he wanted to cool off, he'd probably went to the pool instead..." Midori spoke up blatantly.

"..."

The whole room fell into a complete silence. Until...

"THE POOL!" Tetora shouted out loud. And at the same time, it seemed as if everyone was hit by a sudden realization of the possibility.

"Don't tell me he really went there!?" Tomoya panicked.

"B-B-B-B-But! If he went there, won't he get scold by the teachers!? W-W-W-We're still in class after all!" Hanayo panicked next, worried about Hinata's condition.

"Calm down, Hanayo. We don't even know if he really went there in the first place." Maki immediately spoke up as she tried to calm the female brunette.

"B-B-B-B-But-!" Hanayo's panicked voice was suddenly cut off when Midori suddenly stood up straight from his seat, as his chair scraped against the floor. Everyone's attention immediately went to the tall male as Midori remained on his spot, with a dazed look on his face. It was right after that, he went to the door, ready to leave.

"M-Midori-kun? Where are you going?" Tomoya asked, slightly worried over the tall male's action. Turning around, Midori faced them with a blank look on his face.

"...I'm going to the pool..."

"WAIT!" everyone shouted at at the same time. Tetora and Tomoya immediately pulled Midori further away from the door, preventing the tall male from reaching the door knob and trying to leave the classroom. While the boys were settling the problem amongst them, Hanayo exchanged glances between them worriedly while Maki watched in silence, not even slightly bothered by what was happening anymore.

It was then, the door to their classroom opened.

"I'm back~" a familiar, energetic voice caught everyone's attention as they looked over at the door. Hinata came in with a big smile until his eyes met with his classmates' stares.

"Oh, what's up?"

"WHERE WERE YOU!?" everyone asked in unison, causing Hinata to laugh amusingly at his classmates.

"Hinata-kun! You went to the pool weren't you!? Is that why you're taking so long to come back!?" Tetora asked, looking at the older twin from head to toe as if he was looking for a proof whether he went to the pool or not.

"Pool? What are you guys talking about? I didn't go there. I just went out to get these." Hinata emphasized what he was holding in his arms. The others finally realized that Hinata was carrying something the whole time. Upon closer look, it was a couple of beverage drinks in his arms.

"Canned drinks?" Tomoya looked at the older twin in confusion. Hinata just gave him a grin before he went towards them.

"Yup~ I got each for everyone~" he said.

"Here you go! Come on, take it~" Hinata shoved one of the drinks into Tetora's hands before he went and did the same to the others, leaving them speechless from Hinata's sudden kindness.

"O-Oh, okay. Wait, so you really didn't go to the pool?" Tetora asked skeptically, still wondering if the older twin went or not. Hinata let out a sigh before he gave the black-haired male a confused look.

"I told you I didn't right? Besides, even if I went to the pool, I'd be soaking wet right now. Not to mention I'd probably forgot to bring these drinks for you guys." he explained.

'Suspicious...' Maki thought to herself as she eyed the older twin as he made his way towards her.

"Here, Maki-chan. This one is for you~" he gave her a different type of drink. Apparently, it was her favourite flavour too. Which she found it even more suspicious. Her eyes followed Hinata's figure as he made his way to Hanayo and gave her a different drink as well.

"T-Thank you..." Hanayo thanked the older twin as she examined the canned drink in her hands. The coldness of the aluminum surface instantly calmed her down as she enjoyed the cold contact.

"Here you go, Hajime-kun. You looked like you need it the most~" Hinata said as he placed another different drink on the light-blue haired male's desk.

"Oh, t-thank you." Hajime slowly took the canned drink in his hands and just like Hanayo, he instantly calmed down and enjoyed the cold feeling against his skin.

"No problem~" Hinata went back to his seat and opened up his own drink which was a soda, and drank it to his heart's content. Everyone except for Hanayo and Hajime found his easy-going nature to be suspicious. It wasn't as if they didn't trust the older twin but somehow his sudden kindness often gave off a suspicious outlook that they couldn't help but wondered his intention.

"Oh, I wish I could repay you somehow. Knowing that you did these for all of us..." Hajime looked over at Hinata's desk with a guilty look on his face.

"Nah, don't sweat it. It's fine~"

"B-But, Hinata-kun, you bought these all for us... I feel bad drinking it without paying it too you..." Hanayo said, hanging her head low as she stared at the ground. Just like Hajime, she felt guilty as well.

"Who said I actually bought it?" he said with smile.

"What...?" everyone stared at him with wide eyes.

"Wait a minute... Aren't these the drinks from the vending machines around the school...?" Midori asked as he took a look at the beverage can in his hand. After checking their own drinks, they confirmed it as the beverages from the vending machines around the school area.

"Yep~" Hinata replied gleefully.

"Then how...?" Midori asked but somehow he felt as if he knew it won't a good answer.

"Hinata..." Maki finally spoke up, the tone of her voice sounded as if she knew that the older twin had done something wrong. "How did you get these in the first place...?"

Hinata took one final gulp before he set the empty canned drink aside, facing Maki with a wide grin.

"I rigged it~"

Almost instantly, the whole room went cold. While others were either shocked or angry, Hinata on the other hand, had a big grin on his face, as if he wasn't guilty at all.

"HINATA!"

* * *

 **Well, you all know how Hinata is by nature. So, no surprise there~! Keep being a lovable trickster in your class, Hinata~ They need it~!**

 **Yep, as you can see, it's back to classroom interactions again. This time, going with the theme, 'Handling the Heat'~! Well, the chapter itself is not actually about how they took care of the heat but...eh, it's basically how they reacted to the heat itself. You get the idea. (W)**

 **Next up, Class 1B – Handling the Heat~! Be sure to look forward to it~!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	39. Class 1B - Handling the Heat

**It's time for Class 1B~! That's right! Now then, I wonder how these kids are going to handle the heat, or maybe, how they react towards the heat... Muahahaha~! Anyway, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 37: Handling the Heat (Class 1B)

"Hey, our next subject is PE right...?" Tori asked his classmates as everyone in the class turned their attentions to the pink-haired male.

"Yep, it's PE after this. What's wrong?" Rin looked at him questioningly. Tori stared at her before letting out a big sigh.

"Ughhh, I really don't have the mood for that..." he glanced at the weather outside from a window.

"Eh!? But Tori-chan! That's such a waste!" Mitsuru suddenly cut in the conversation as he stared at the pink-haired male with wide eyes. Tori, on the other hand, stared right back at him with a bored look on his face.

"What do you mean...?"

"In times like this, you should take the chance to improve your stamina! This unbearable heat is nothing more than just an obstacle that you need to overcome during the Summer! So, you might as well try and get used to it~" the brunette male had a huge grin on his face as he explained. However, the pink-haired male wasn't as enthusiastic as him.

"Are you crazy!? I don't want to risk getting sick in a weather like this!" Tori retorted as he glared at the brunette.

"What!? Exercising won't make you sick!"

"It will if you overdo it!"

"Now, now. Calm down you guys. There's no need to fight over stuff like this." Yuta got in between the two bickering students as he tried to push them away from each other. Meanwhile, the rest of his classmates could only watched the situation in front of them silently. Rin wondered if she should helped the younger twin. Tsukasa went back to his previous reading after several seconds had passed. Shinobu and Sora exchanged looks between the noisy trio, silently watching the drama happening in front of them.

Not long after that, the door to their classroom opened, revealing Sagami Jin at the doorway as he entered the classroom.

"Alright, get in to your seats. Class is starting." Jin made his way towards the teacher's desk, carrying an attendance book and his usual notebook.

"Sagami-sensei?" the whole class said in unison, confused with his appearance in their class. However, despite that, they went to their own seats and greeted the teacher as they usually did. Once everyone remained seated, Tsukasa decided to ask.

"Sagami-sensei, why are you here in our class?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, about that. Your PE teacher called in sick today. So, I have to take over his class for today." the teacher replied. Once he said that, everyone in the class had different reactions. Tori had a relief look on his face. Mitsuru, Rin and Yuta were pouting slightly while Tsukasa and Shinobu were not showing any sorts of emotions.

"Now then, as you may know, I'm no expert in sports and stuff related to Physical Education. So, I'm not really sure what to teach you for today. So I thought, why don't we decide together what to do today?"

* * *

"POOL~!" everyone shouted happily before they splashed into the pool together, creating a big wave. Only Jin and Tsukasa remained standing on the side of the pool, watching the others playing with the water.

"My, my... You kids sure are lively today." Jin scratched the back on his head before he went to a nearby chair under a shade of an outdoor umbrella to relax. Meanwhile, Tsukasa remained on his spot at the side of the pool as he watched his own classmates playing with each other in the pool.

"Ah~ This feels nice~" Sora let a relief sigh as he swam backwards on his back slowly in a carefree mood.

"Even when the sun is still shining brightly above us, the water just soothes away the heat like it's nothing~" Tori also let out a relief sigh. Unlike Sora, Tori remained at the side of the pool, holding on at the edge as he let his body relaxed in the water. Meanwhile, Rin and Mitsuru challenged each other to a swimming race. As for Yuta and Shinobu, both of them were competing against each other to see who could held their breath longer underwater.

While everyone had their fun in the pool, only Tsukasa remained standing at the side, watching his classmates playing around.

"You guys are too relaxed..." he mumbled softly. Turning around, he faced the teacher and walked towards him.

"Sagami-sensei, I know that you don't mind taking us to the pool but..." he spoke up, causing Jin to wake up from his light nap. "Don't you think you're giving us TOO much freedom right now?"

Tsukasa's question caused the teacher to look over at the pool, watching the students having WAY too much fun on their own. However, he waved it off with a light chuckle.

"Don't worry about it. You may be Idols but don't forget that you're a student too. So take this chance to enjoy your time in school as a normal student for once in a while." he said, smiling at him. Tsukasa on the other hand, stared at the teacher quizzically before he made his way to the pool. His hesitant caught both Rin and Mitsuru's attention as they looked at him.

"Tsukasa-chan, are you not going to join us?" Mitsuru asked as he and Rin swam closer to the red-haired male.

"Oh, it's fine. I'll just watch you guys from here." he sat at the side of the pool, dipping his feet into the water. Mitsuru and Rin, however, were not satisfied with just that.

"Eh~? But that's no fun-nyaa..." she pouted but the red-haired male waved it off, saying that he didn't mind. He even told them to just continue whatever they were doing earlier. Both Rin and Mitsuru exchanged looks before they had a small grin on their face.

"Alright, it's decided!" Rin and Mitsuru spoke up in unison as Rin held on Tsukasa's right hand while Mitsuru held on his left hand tightly.

"R-Rin? Tenma-kun? What are you-"

"YOU'RE JOINING IN~!" both of them yanked the red-haired male inside the pool, causing him to splash into the water, creating a small wave around him. Once he got himself out of the water's surface, he glared at them.

"Are you trying to drown me!?" he asked, slightly upset with both Rin and Mitsuru's actions. The two, however, only gave him a big grin as they swam away from the male. Confused, Tsukasa wondered why they were distancing themselves from him. Unfortunately, he realized it a bit too late.

"Aww, come on! Chill out and have...FUN!" Yuta splashed a big wave towards Tsukasa from behind, surprising the red-haired male from the sudden cold water splashed at the back of his head. While everyone laughed at his current situation, Tsukasa took that time to collect himself and thought about what had just happened.

"Ah, I see how it is. It seems this is how people usually play when they're in the pool..." Tsukasa turned around to face the younger twin. Without saying anything, he went and did the same thing towards Yuta, splashing the water right to his face as the younger twin lost his footing on the pool floor and fell backwards into the water.

Silence surround the entire area as they looked at the spot where Yuta fell. Soon enough, he emerged from the water, an point his index finger at the red-haired male with a grin.

"THIS IS WAR~!" once Yuta gave out that declaration, everything went into chaos. Almost everyone ended up splashing the water around at each other, laughing and running away.

"HEY! DON'T DRAG ME INTO YOUR GAMES!" Tori tried to run away but somehow ended up getting dragged into the mess as he struggled to escape from his classmates. Meanwhile with Jin, who had just woke up from the sudden noise, stared at them with a small smile.

"Huh, it must be nice to be so young and full of energy..."

* * *

 **Wouldn't it be fun to have a teacher like Sagami Jin who would just let his student do whatever they want and at the same time, cared for them? I wished I had a teacher like that~ Fufufufu, anyway, it seems like 1B had a good time in the pool. Lucky~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	40. Class 2A - Handling the Heat

**Moving to the 2nd years~! Just like before, we're starting with Class 2A first. Now then, I wonder what's going to happen in this one~?**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 38: Handling the Heat (Class 2A)

"Ah, this feels nice~ Right, Ukki~?" Subaru spoke up with a satisfying smile on his face. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt a cold air blew right in front of him.

"Yep, it is~" Makoto replied to his orange-haired friend with an equally satisfying smile on his face as well.

"Akehoshi, Yuuki. Will you please stop hogging that air cooler all for yourselves and get back to your seats...?" Hokuto spoke up, eying both his classmates, sitting right in FRONT of the mentioned air cooler, blocking the air flow from spreading elsewhere in their classroom.

"Yes sir~" when both of them stood up, Hokuto continued to watch them with cautious eyes until they finally sat down on their respective seats with a satisfying smile on their faces.

"Really. You two sure are handful sometimes..." Hokuto let out a sigh.

"Aww~ But we were just enjoying the cold air~" Subaru looked over at his black-haired friend with a small pout on his face.

"By standing in front of the cooler?" he glanced at the mentioned air cooler at the front of their class. It was a small, portable air cooler that their homeroom teacher, Sagami Jin, had brought all the way from his home to their school, just to help his students stayed cool during their classes.

"I mean, it's fun that way!" Subaru retorted.

"I can feel it even from my seat, Akehoshi. And if I can feel from here, I'm sure you can feel it from your seat as well." Hokuto crossed his arms as he gave Subaru a disapproval look.

"Boo~! Hokke doesn't know how to have some fun..." Subaru crossed his arms, slightly pouting as he averted his gaze from his black-haired friend.

"Now, now. It's not really a big deal." Makoto spoke up, hoping that his friends, especially Hokuto, to look past the problem and let it go. "I mean, it's rare enough to have an air cooler in a class. So, we might as well enjoyed it while it's here. Right?"

"Yuuki. I expected you of all people, should at least know how to not act like a fool. I swear, you and Akehoshi are becoming even more unbearable these days." Hokuto shot a glare at the bespectacled male.

"Ouch...! As expected of Hidaka-kun. You're so 'cold' today~"

"Yuuki... You-" not even given the chance to finish his sentence, Subaru cut him off.

"Oh~ Was that a pun, Ukki!? Nice~" Subaru held out his hand in the air at Makoto while the bespectacled male grinned at him and high-fived his friend. It was when Hokuto directed a deadly glare towards them, the duo quickly tried to ease his anger.

"What seems to be the problem?" a familiar voice suddenly spoke up, catching the trio's attention to a newcomer who suddenly joined their conversation.

"Oh, Kanzaki-kun. And Otogari-kun too." Makoto watched as the two mentioned students came towards them.

"You were making quite a ruckus. Did something happened?" Souma asked as he eyed the three males. When both Subaru and Makoto didn't answer, Hokuto took that chance to explain it himself.

"It's nothing big actually. I was just telling Akehoshi and Yuuki here not to play with Sagami-sensei's air cooler."

"We're not playing with it. We're just standing there to feel the air blowing at us..." Makoto mumbled out.

"That's all?" Souma raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"Yep! Hokke was just overreacting. He usually never make a big deal over something small like this. I bet you the heat burned off his cool~" Subaru grinned.

"I can hear you from here, you know?" Hokuto shot a glare at the orange-haired from the corner of his eyes before he let out a sigh, shrugging his shoulder. "But then again, maybe you're right. I guess this heat is getting a bit too much for me..."

"Class President, I think you should rest. Today's weather is pretty harsh than before after all." Adonis spoke up, showing his concern towards the black-haired male. Hokuto, in response to the purple-haired male's statement, smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Ooh! Then I know just the thing!" Subaru cut in as he stood up from his seat. Right after that, he made his way towards the air cooler once again and knelt in front of it, piquing everyone's curiousity.

"Akehoshi-dono, what are you doing?" Souma asked, however, Subaru unconsciously ignored the question as he messed around with the device in front of him, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Do this...and some of that. And now, flip~"

With no word of caution, the air cooler made a huge whirring noise and all of the sudden, the classroom's temperature dropped instantly. The sudden action took everyone by surprised as they looked at Subaru, who had a big grin on his face.

"A-Akehoshi-kun!? What did you do!?" Makoto cried out as he stared wide eyes at the orange-haired male.

"Hehehe~ I turned up the volume of the air cooler! Now we don't have to worry about the heat getting to us~"

"Akehoshi! We don't need that much power to cool down this class! Turn it down!" Hokuto shouted at him.

"Eh~? But you said the heat was too much for you..."

"Enough! Just turn it down!"

"Fine..." Subaru pouted, slightly disappointed that his friend didn't like his idea.

Right after Subaru flipped the switch to medium power, he realized that something was wrong. The loud whirring noise as well as the temperature didn't change. Confused, he flipped the switch even lower, but the results were the same as before. A sense of dread came rolling in when Subaru realized that he MIGHT have done something wrong. And the cold temperature didn't help to make it better.

"Uh... Oops?" he grinned clumsily with a sweat rolling down at the side of his face as he faced his friends.

"Akehoshi... What did you do...?" as if Hokuto's question was not enough to pressure him, the looks he received from his classmates made it even worse. Slowly twiddling with his fingers, he looked away with a guilty smile.

"I...can't turn it down." he finally admitted it. The silent treatment he received from his friends caused him to panic.

"I-It's fine~! M-Maybe I didn't flipped it right. Yeah, that's right! So, all I have to do is flipped it again!"

"W-Wait-!" right before Makoto could stopped his friend, Subaru already flipped the switch to the high volume again. However, instead of the same loud whirring noise, it was replaced with a loud rattling noise. The rattling itself was scary enough but even when Subaru slowly flipped it back to medium, the rattling became even louder than before.

"I don't know how that thing works. But even I know that that doesn't sound pleasant..." Adonis broke the tensed silence as he slowly backed away, followed by the others. Right when they took several steps back, black smoke came out from the air cooler, immediately sent everyone in a panicked mode.

"Is that what I think is...!?" Makoto paled from the sight of the black smoke.

"Oh god..."

"Get down!" Souma ordered and then...

 **POOF!**

The exploding sound coming from the inside of the air cooler was small but loud. Once everyone got out from their hiding spot, they quickly went to a nearby window to let out the black smoke that was filling up their classroom. Once the smoke finally cleared out, everyone finally could see the air cooler's condition. Although the sight itself was not something that they wished they were hoping for.

"Argh! It's... It's...!" Subaru could only gawked at the device in front of him.

"It's broken...?" Makoto finished the sentence, gawking like his friend.

"That's going to be a problem..." Souma said as the others stared at the broken air cooler, speechless and dumbstruck by the whole incident. The whole classroom fell into complete silence. As if on cue, one part of the air cooler fell out of it's place, creating a soft _**clang**_.

"Ukki! DO SOMETHING!" Subaru suddenly cried out as he latched himself on the bespectacled male desperately.

"Eh!? B-B-But...I'm no good in fixing this type of thing..." Makoto looked over at the broken air cooler in front of him. Sure he was good with gadgets and technology stuff, but fixing an air cooler – a broken one to say the least, wasn't a part of it.

Sensing his bespectacled friend's doubt, Subaru turned and faced Hokuto next.

"Hokke!" he pleaded.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the one who broke it..."

"Zaki-san!" he pleaded another one.

"Unfortunately, I am not well-taught on fixing an air cooler. I apologize..." Souma crossed his arms and looked away with a guilty expression on his face.

"Occhan!" he pleaded once again. However, he didn't even have to hear Adonis's answer for it was plain obvious that the purple-haired male have no knowledge of modern technologies in the first place. Adonis could only looked away, guilt forming on his face.

Right before Subaru was about to bawl out, their classroom's door opened.

"We're back." a familiar female voice spoke up and everyone in the classroom tensed up. Facing the door, everyone saw a familiar brunette entered the classroom.

"You guys were making a huge ruckus, you know? What happened-" Anzu's word died down when she saw the boys froze from their spot, facing her with wide eyes. The sight of their teacher's air cooler puffing out little black smoke in the background was enough to tell Anzu that something happened during her absence. And she was not amused by it.

"What exactly happened here?" she asked, eying the boys with a serious look on her face. While the boys remained quiet and unsure, Umi and Kotori entered the classroom, only to stop on their tracks when they saw the sight in the classroom.

"Oh my!" Kotori gasped when she saw the air cooler's condition while Umi crossed her arms and stared at the boys with the same unamused expression as Anzu.

"Care to explain this?" the blue-haired female asked in a normal tone. However, everyone knew that there was something hidden behind that tone and no one dared to mess around with her. The deadly stares from Anzu and Umi was enough to scare Subaru that he couldn't stay silent anymore.

"I'M SORRY~!" he cried out, surprising everyone in the classroom as he bowed to the ground. "I DIDN'T KNEW THAT TURNING THE VOLUME UP WOULD BROKE THE AIR COOLER! I REALLY DIDN'T KNEW! PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME~!"

"What!?" the three girls shouted at the same time as they stared at the orange-haired male incredulously.

"I'M REALLY SORRY!" the orange-haired male bawled out like a kid, immediately effecting the two previously angry females. Seeing Subaru crying was something that they couldn't stand and they wanted nothing more than just to make him stop. And once again, the whole class went into a complete silence as they looked at each other and wondered how to settle their problem.

"A-At any rate, we should do something about Sagami-sensei's air cooler. The teachers have a meeting at the moment, so we have time to fix before he came to class!" Kotori encouraged her classmates, hoping that it would gave them even a slightest bit of hope.

"Makoto-kun, can't you fix it?" she asked, facing the mentioned male. Everyone's attention went towards the bespectacled male in the class, instantly making him nervous on the spot. Makoto let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I can only fix certain devices that I'm familiar with...as well as if it's still intact." he took a glance over the broken air cooler before facing the others again. "But since this one pretty much fell apart already, I'm just worried that I might messed it up along the way even if I tried..." he mumbled out the last part, feeling slightly embarrassed that he couldn't helped with the problem.

"W-What should we do?" Anzu asked, looking at her classmates for other opinions but no one could come up with something. A heavy silence filled the air until Hokuto let out a sigh.

"Well, to be honest. I'm not sure if we even had any other options than to apologize to Sagami-sensei." he said, glancing at the orange-haired male, who in return, flinched slightly at the idea.

"But I'm scared~!" he cried out, tears forming at the corner of his eyes as he looked at his classmates with pleading eyes. "Can't we just ask around if someone could help repair it!?"

"That's out of the question. We're still in class session after all. The same goes to other classes too." Hokuto simply retorted to his question, immediately silencing the orange-haired male.

"Subaru-kun, if it really was just an honest mistake, then you don't have to be scared. I'm sure Sagami-sensei would understand." Anzu tried to reassure him, gripping his shoulder lightly.

"B-But-!"

"It's so noisy in HERE..." a new voice suddenly appeared from the doorway, surprising everyone in the classroom. Facing the doorway, a familiar figure walked in, revealing themselves. It was one of their classmates, who goes by the name Sakasaki Natsume. The red-haired male walked towards the group as he waved off a small black smoke in front of his face.

"Ugh, what is this SMELL? What's going ON?" Natsume asked as he faced the group, only to realize how everyone froze from their spot as they stared at him with wide eyes. Their tensed bodies were enough to tell him that something happened before he arrived.

"Did something HAPPENED?"

* * *

"Whoa! It's working again~! I'm so relieved~!" Subaru hugged the air cooler with tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Akehoshi, don't latched yourself on it right after Sakasaki had just fixed it. What if it breaks again...?" Hokuto scolded the orange-haired male but Subaru paid no heed to his friend's advice as he kept on holding to the air cooler as if they were inseparable.

"Thank goodness you know how to fix it, Sakasaki-san. We were worried that we might upset Sagami-sensei if he were to find out what happened to his air cooler..." Umi said with a smile on her face.

"Thank goodness INDEED. You all should know better to not let Baru-kun touch other people's BELONGINGS." the red-haired male shrugged his shoulders.

"I said I was sorry, alright~!?"

"Of course, you ARE. If I didn't came over, I bet you would be crying your eyes out throughout the whole day, wouldn't you?" he said in a teasing tone, which caused Subaru to pout slightly and looked away. "Well, it's FINE. What happened, HAPPENED. Now then, Baru-kun..."

Natsume walked towards the orange-haired male before stopping right in front of him. The red-haired male held out his hand to Subaru, earning questioning looks from him and the others in return.

"Pay UP."

"Ehhhhh!?" almost everyone was taken by surprised by Natsume's sudden demand, especially Subaru who looked almost as if he was going to faint.

"Oh, don't worry Baru-kun~ I'm not asking for something grand or ANYTHING. All I want is..." Natsume smirked, causing Subaru to flinch slightly from the way the red-haired male spoke his so-called nickname. "...your COINS."

"EHHH!? WHAT!? But why!?" Subaru was on the verge of crying. He couldn't stand the thought of being separated with his beloved, shiny coins. Natsume, on the other hand, had his smirk replaced with a frown as he crossed his arms.

"Firstly, you're the one who broke the air COOLER. Second, you desperately begged me to fix it as soon as I came in when I only came here just to take some of my stuff and LEAVE. And last but not least, you wasted my precious TIME." he explained. Once Natsume finished his explanation, his smirk resurfaced and held out his hand towards the orange-haired male once again.

"Now then, how about you start giving me your COINS, Baru-kun~? I could really use some of them at the MOMENT~"

"NO~! NOT MY COINS~!"

* * *

~ Extra ~

"Hm? Now that's weird."

Not only did Jin walked into 2A's class to find his students acting all quiet and tense, he also found out that his air cooler _felt_ different.

"W-What is?" Anzu asked.

"It feels as if this old thing is working better than it usually was before." the teacher said and almost instantly, everyone flinched except for Natsume. Jin noticed his students' sudden change of behaviour and stared at them with a questioning look.

"Did something happened?" he asked and no one managed to say anything as they averted their gazes away from the teacher's eyes. Jin was not stupid. He realized something was off, meaning that something must have happened during his absence. It certainly caught his attention when he first came in to the classroom only to find out how tensed his students were.

Some of them, like Adonis, Souma, Hokuto and Umi were calm and normal. However, he knew they were only ACTING to be normal. Anzu, Kotori and Makoto were avoiding his eye contact for a reason. And Subaru was...well, lifeless? It was strange enough to see the most hyper student in his class to be so out of energy, even when the air cooler was switched on to cool down the class. He didn't even moved a slightest inch from his seat with his face flat on his own desk.

But what caught his interest was that Sakasaki Natsume, for once, came to the class. What's even more interesting was that Natsume was already IN the class before he even arrived. And Jin couldn't help but wondered if the whole situation has something to do with him.

"Sakasaki, did you do something to this thing?" Jin patted his air cooler lightly while maintaining an eye contact with the red-haired male. Natsume, on the other hand, just smiled as if he was innocent in the situation.

"Hmm, let's just say... It's the work of MAGIC~"

* * *

 **Natsume saves the day~! With a small price, that is. Sorry Subaru. Looks like you have to give up all those shiny coins for now... Huhuhu, I'm so evil~**

 **I'm sure you realized that it took me like...2 weeks to post THIS chapter. Like...it took me so long just to write this SHORT chapter. Because guess what? WRITER'S BLOCK LOVES ME SO MUCH, IT CAME RUNNING BACK TO ME~! URGHHHH...** **（▼へ▼メ）** **Damn you, Writer's Block...**

 **I'm like, really sorry that I took so long just to post this single chapter. I could have done two chapters by this week but, yeah. I could only managed to finish this one for now. Sheesh... (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**

* * *

A/N : Just a quick note about my current status. I'm still alive, don't worry about that~ However, I do need to mention that my schedule recently, and by recently, I meant by this previous 2 weeks, were a complete mess. Which resulted in why I couldn't posted this chapter as soon as I could.

BUT! No worries. That's all sorted out now. I can't post chapters as fast as I could before but I've decided to post every new chapters every Monday (based from my country that is...) (also, it depends on how fast and quick I am, in case there's no new chapter when Monday arrives). It's not that I don't want to post as many chapters that I could but you know, I have other things to do too. Like drawing (Yes, it's a hobby. And no, I'm no expert but I still like to improve myself). I also have other things to do like, writing my own original stories in which I planned on publishing it in the future when my writing improves, with God's Will.

Anyway, I really hoped you can forgive me for deciding this choice. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this crossover story (even though I'm the author myself). I would love to finish this up as soon as I can! Plus, the shippings makes my heart flutters~! Anyway, I typed too long in this End Notes. I hope you enjoyed the stories I made regarding this crossover so far. Personally, I loved it too and I LOVED it even more knowing that you guys liked it too! Be sure to check in for more new chapters~! I'll see you in the next chapter soon, dear readers~!


	41. Class 2B - Handling the Heat

**It's time for Class 2B~ I don't what I else should type here because we don't want spoilers up here now do we? So, go ahead and read! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 39: Handling the Heat (Class 2B)

"Mika-chan, thanks for helping me out with those books earlier. I don't think I would be able to carry all of those back to the staffroom if it weren't for you~" Arashi chirped as he walked down the hallway with Mika walking alongside with him.

"No prob'. I was passin' by after all. Might as well lend a hand." the mismatched eyes male smiled.

"Hehe~ As kind as ever, aren't you, Mika-chan?"

While both of them engaged in their own conversations, Arashi caught a glimpse of students over at the track fields through the windows in the hallway.

"Oh? Is that Class 2A I'm seeing down there?" the blond male asked as he stopped on his tracks, cutting their previous conversation off as he gazed outside the window. Mika stopped as well before he went and gazed over the direction the blond male was looking at.

"Probably... I did overheard Honoka-chan sayin' that her friends are having PE right now." Mika replied. Arashi let out a sigh as he gazed at the students warming up near the track fields before they get into their PE activities.

"I would hate to be in their shoes right now. Exposed to the sunlight and all. I do hope that they at least put on some sunscreen lotion or something. It's would be a shame if they get sunburns on their beautiful skins. Or worse, getting sick..." the blond male said, a worried look plastered on his face.

"Speakin' of which, ya always took care of yer skin, aren't ya, Naru-chan? That's why ya always looked pretty~" Mika complimented the blond male with a smile, causing Arashi to beam a bright smile at him.

"Oh my, thank you for the compliment~ It's not easy to pursue beauty but trust me, it's worth it." he said. It was right after that, Arashi finally realized that both of them needed to go back to their classroom for their next class session.

"Oh no! We wasted enough time just standing here and talking. Let's go back, Mika-chan." the blond male continued walking back to his classroom with Mika following after him. Once they arrived, Arashi quickly entered the class without even bothered to knock.

"We're back~! Sorry we took so long-" Arashi's word died instantly once he saw his classroom empty. None of his classmates were inside.

"Oh? That's weird. Where's everyone? Even Honoka-chan and Yuzuru-chan are not here..." he wondered out loud, looking around the classroom.

"I'll go check outside the class. Maybe they're nearby." Mika said and left the classroom afterward, leaving the blond male all by himself in the empty classroom.

"Really now... Class is going to start soon. They better not be skipping class now." Arashi said to no one in particular as he stood at the front of the class. "But then again, that wouldn't make any sense if Yuzuru-chan would follow along. He never skipped any classes before. Honoka-chan and Mao-chan too..."

Letting out a sigh, the blond male walked out of the class, hoping to find Mika and called him back into the class. He didn't have to search hard for the mismatched eyes male for the male himself was in the hallway, standing in front of 2A's classroom.

"Mika-chan? What are you doing standing over there?" Arashi walked towards the mismatched eyes male. It was when he walked closer that he finally realized that Mika had an incredulous look on his face as he stared inside of 2A's classroom.

"Mika-chan?" he called out to him but received no response. Instead, Mika pointed his finger inside the classroom, which prompted Arashi to take a look and peeked his head inside. The sight of the room was nothing out of the ordinary except for the one who currently occupied the classroom.

"Ah~ This feels nice~" Honoka let out a relieved sigh as she knelt in front of an air cooler at the front of the class.

"Tell me about it." Koga said with a satisfied smile on his face as he also knelt in front of the air cooler beside Honoka.

Arashi couldn't believe his eyes when he saw both the ginger-haired female and the grey-haired male kneeling in front of an air cooler that he had never heard or seen before. While both of them were pretty much enjoying the cool air, Ritsu took it to another level. He had the guts to actually sit in someone's seat and sleep there with the air cooler nearby. He looked so peaceful that Arashi couldn't even bring himself to wake the sleeping male if he had to.

"Oh, so you found us huh?" Mao's voice spoke up and Arashi looked beside the door to see both Mao and Yuzuru leaning against the wall inside the classroom, both of them had the same worried look on their face.

"What's going on here...?" the blond male asked. Mao and Yuzuru exchanged looks between them before the violet-haired male let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

"Let's just say both Yuzuru and I were dragged into this unwillingly..."

* * *

"I see. So Honoka-chan mentioned about Class 2A had an air cooler and then Koga-chan insisted on 'visiting' the class to see it for themselves, is that it?" Arashi asked with both of his hands on his hips and a disappointed look on his face.

"That pretty much sums it up." Yuzuru nodded his head while Arashi let out a sigh for the umpteenth time today before he walked over to the two students kneeling in front of the air cooler – clapping his hands to catch their attention to him.

"Alright, alright! Time out! It's time for us to go back to our class! Honoka-chan, let's go." he pulled the ginger-haired female's arm to get her up and away from the machine while Koga remained kneeling in front of the air cooler, not even bothered to move from his spot nor prevented Arashi from taking Honoka away.

"Eh~!? But can't we at least bring this with us?" she asked innocently, as if there was nothing wrong with her request.

"No can do. It doesn't even belong to our class. Now come along. We have a class to attend right now." the blond male once again pulled her away but this time, Honoka resisted and pulled her arm back.

"No~! I want the air cooler to come with us~! Air cooler-san~! We should bring it with us!" the ginger-haired female tried to reach out to the mentioned air cooler but she was way too far from the machine to reach it.

It was almost comedic to see Honoka throwing a tantrum like a little kid when she's obviously not. Arashi would have long found it cute to see the ginger-haired female pouting and sulking but in this case, it was different. He certainly wouldn't want to get in trouble because of his classmates' actions.

"You leave me no choice here, Honoka-chan..." he said as he soften his grip on Honoka's arm. Confused, Honoka looked at the blond male expectantly as if he was willing to listen to her request. However...

"Mika-chan, lend me a hand here." Arashi asked and soon enough, Mika held on to Honoka's other arm.

"Sorry 'bout this, Honoka-chan." the mismatched eyes male apologized before he and Arashi dragged her out of the class and straight to their own classroom.

"Wahh! You meanies! How can you tricked me!? I just wanted to stay cool for a little longer!" As both males dragged her away, Arashi managed to look over at Yuzuru with a smile.

"Yuzuru-chan, if you could please bring Koga-chan back to class, that would help us a lot. Thank you~" after that, he quickly left the classroom before Koga even managed to retort.

"Oh, hell no! I rather skip the class and stay here than going back to that freaking hot class!" Koga barked but he soon realized that Arashi was no longer in the classroom.

"Oogami-sama, it would be much more easy if you would follow me back to class without putting up a fight. Or would you rather if I dragged you all the way to the class?" Yuzuru asked almost innocently as if he had no intentions of doing anything rough.

"Try me!"

And without batting an eye, he did.

"Godammit Yuzuru! I'm gonna beat your ass up once we get to class!" Koga's voice echoed in the hallway as soon as Yuzuru dragged him out of 2A's classroom.

"It's so noisy... I can't even sleep peacefully in this room anymore... Although it does feel nice to sleep with an air cooler like this for once in a while. It really helps get rid of the heat..."

"Come on, Ritsu. We should go back to our class too. I don't want to upset Arashi for keeping him too long." Mao spoke up as he stood closer to the half-asleep male. Without saying anything, Ritsu lifted both of his arms towards the violet-haired male. Despite not saying anything, Mao knew what he meant and let out a sigh.

"Alright, alright. Here." Mao had his back faced the sleepy male before Ritsu laid down on Mao's back and was carried off in a piggyback position while Mao walked towards their class.

"Maa-kun is such a good boy~ Here, let me praise you."

"You can be so troublesome sometimes, you know that? And stop messing with my hair..." Mao said as he walked both of them back towards their class, hoping silently that no one would make fun of them.

* * *

 **Who could ever resist an air cooler in a hot weather? I know I couldn't. So, this is actually quite a random idea, to be honest. I'm like, out of ideas about what should class 2B do in handling the heat. But then I remembered that 2A had a freaking air cooler, so I thought that I might use it as well~**

 **Next up would be class 3A~! And yes, before you start asking, a special guest is going to make his appearance in the next chapter~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	42. Class 3A - Handling the Heat

**Don't you just hate it when there's a power outage in the middle of a sunny day, especially when there's no breeze to cool you off from the harsh sun? I would hate to be in that situation. Plus, it's easy to get angry when people just annoy you so much. Hint, hint~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 40: Handling the Heat (Class 3A)

It was surprising and yet, not so surprising at the same time when Yumenosaki Academy once again, had another power outage. For that to happen during the summer season, it was safe to say that many students were quite upset with the whole situation.

It can be heard everywhere within the school grounds – the unpleasant voices from the students as they complained about the harsh weather along with their school's condition. Even the students from the Idol course were making a huge ruckus about the situation. Especially from Class 3B. They were making a lot of noise from their classroom.

It didn't help that Class 3A, which was on the same floor as 3B, have to put up with the noise since their class were literally across each other on the same floor.

"Ugh, there they go again... ..." Keito grumbled as he looked up from reading a document in his hand. The bespectacled male was in the middle of a discussion with Eichi and Eli when he heard voices shouting in the class next door. It was so noisy that it completely distracted his focus on the task.

"It can't be helped." Eli spoke up, catching the bespectacled male's attention to her. "I mean, half of that class are our school's top most unpredictable students, remember?"

"They should just deal with it." Keito let out a sigh as he adjusted the position of his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Complaining about it isn't going to help bring the power back."

"Not everyone is as strong-willed as you, Keito." Eichi spoke up this time, catching both Keito and Eli's attention to the blond male from his seat as he read through some of the documents that were laying down on his desk. Looking up, he gave the bespectacled male his familiar, gentle smile.

"Besides, I think even our own classmates are having a rough time dealing with this heat. Don't you think?" the blond male jerked his head over the direction of his other classmates at the same time, causing both Keito and Eli to take a look at their classmates.

Everyone sat at their seats in silence as they occupied themselves with something that could take their mind away from the situation they were facing at the moment. The sad thing was, no one even looked alive. Except for Chiaki. The harsh, sunny weather had no effect on the young man.

As for Izumi, he had the worst. The poor guy couldn't even do anything as he laid his head on his desk, face flat on the surface. It was almost comical and pitiful how much the heat affected him. Surprisingly, Nozomi didn't take that chance to tease the grey-haired male, for she was also slightly affected by the harsh heat. She could be seen shuffling her tarot cards and looked at them, one by one with a tired look on her face.

Shu was sewing a new costume for Mademoiselle as the doll sat silently on his desk, 'watching' the pink-haired male do his work. However, it was obvious that today was not a good day for him. Shu was sewing quite slowly than he usually was before. The frowned look and the sweats rolling down at the side of his face was enough to tell he was having a rough time.

"How pitiful..." It was the only thing that Keito could commented when he saw the sight of his classmates.

"Fufufu. We can't exactly blame them. To be honest, even I find this heat quite troublesome. It almost felt like I could faint at anytime." he chuckled. Although Eichi meant his statement as a joke, it only made Keito and Eli even more worried.

"Eichi-kun, please don't push yourself too much. I told you that I can take over some of the work with Keito-kun. And while we're at it, YOU should rest up." Eli said with a stern look on her face as she crossed her arms. Eichi, on the other hand, chuckled once more before he smiled at her.

"It makes me happy to know just how helpful you are to us even when you're no longer a member of the Student Council. It's quite a shame you didn't stay back then." he said, closing his eyes as if he was trying to recall back a past.

"Rather than talking about the past, I think we should be talking about what's coming ahead of us, specifically the upcoming Sports Festival." Keito interrupted the conversation by grabbing their attention back to their main discussion.

"Ah, that's right. We got totally sidetracked from our previous discussion, weren't we?" Eichi asked while Keito nodded his head.

"Indeed, we were. Thanks to those lots over at 3B that doesn't know how to stay quite." Keito, once again, adjusted his glasses before he looked back at the document in his hand.

"Now then, back to what we were saying-"

"I HAD ENOUGH!"

A voice interrupted Keito's sentence as the whole classroom fell into a complete dead silent. It wasn't someone from their class. In fact, it came from the other side of the class, which was 3B. Added in, it was a familiar high-pitched female voice.

"Was that...?" Eli stared at the entrance of their classroom door, as if she was trying to see through the obstacle to confirm if it was Nico's voice or not.

"Nicocchi's voice...?" Nozomi continued the sentence for her. And the class fell into a dead silence once more before Keito cleared his throat.

"Ignore them, Ayase. Back to our topic." Keito, once again, asked Eli to focus back to their main discussion – which was rudely interrupted – when suddenly, it happened again.

"SCREW YOU GUYS! PLAYING AROUND AFTER I JUST CLEANED UP THE CLASS TIRELESSLY!" Nico's voice could be heard booming from the other side of the class, leaving the rest of 3A's students speechless by the sudden event.

"N-NICO-CHIN! CALM DOWN!" Nazuna's pleading voice could be heard next followed by a sudden crashing noises and the noises kept on going, mixed with everyone's voices shouting and screaming.

"NICO-CHAN IS GOING ON A RAMPAGE! WHAT A HORRIBLE TURN OF EVENTS~!" Hibiki shouted – a little bit excited in his tone when everyone knew what he said just now was not a good thing.

"UWAHHHH! SHE'S THROWING THE DUSTERS! SHE'S THROWING A LOT OF DUSTERS! SOMEONE HELP~"

"OI, NICO! STOP IT!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SHOULD SHUT UP, TWINTAILS! I'M TRYING TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE HERE! YOU'RE SO NOISY!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU SCRIBBLED THE WALL WHICH I HAD WORKED SO HARD ON CLEANING IT UP, YOU STUPID IDIOT!"

"Oh, for the love of god..." Izumi moaned softly when he heard Leo's voice shouting from the other side, clearly embarrassed that his unit's leader was doing something idiotic as he hid his face in a palm of his hand.

Suddenly, Keito stood up from his seat, catching everyone's attention to the bespectacled male's figure as he walked out of the classroom.

"K-Keito-kun? Where are you going?" Eli mustered up the courage to ask. Keito turned his head around almost casually but Eli could tell his eyes were hiding something.

"I'm going to have a long talk with the students from 3B. Excuse me." he said and left the class. Seconds passed, and it turned into a minute. Surprisingly, the noise from 3B didn't die out and it made everyone in 3A worried.

"They're still going...? I hope Kanata's fine..." Chiaki had a worried look on his face as he crossed his arms. As much as he wanted to barge into 3B's class to stop the horrible fight, he knew that if he were to go now, he would end up getting lectured by Keito as well. And nobody likes to be lectured by the bespectacled male.

"Hmph, I knew that little girl had a violent side of her. What a distasteful behaviour..." Shu muttered, shaking his head.

"[Keito-kun looks scary...]" Mademoiselle spoke, her voice sounded soft as if she was whimpering.

"I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen soon..." and not long after Nozomi had just said her statement, suddenly...

"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, YOU INCORRIGIBLE FOOLS!" Keito's voice boomed from 3B's class, immediately silencing the whole class as well as Class 3A. Not only does his shout surprised them, but even the harsh words he used was scaring them.

"Oh, dear me..." Eichi let out a low sigh as he shook his head.

* * *

~ Extra ~

Minutes passed by and Keito still haven't came back from 3B's classroom. All of the students from 3A decided to let go of their worries and resumed their previous work. It was not long after that, the sound of a creaking door made everyone tensed as they quickly looked over at the entrance. However, instead of Keito, it was someone else.

"Yo~! I'm back~!" Madara waved his arm at his classmates as he casually walked in as if he didn't do anything wrong for suddenly disappearing from classes. The brown-haired male noticed the tense look on his classmates' face, and he couldn't help but got slightly intrigued.

"Hmm? What's up? You all looked like you just saw a ghost~" he laughed afterward. It was right after that, Chiaki suddenly placed both of his hands on each of Madara's shoulder, facing him straight in the eyes.

"Mikejima-san. A word of advice. Leave now before Hasumi arrives. I mean it. Before he suddenly lose his cool in here as well." Chiaki said, with a rare serious tone. Not just that, even everyone from the class was nodding their heads as if they were agreeing with Chiaki's idea.

"What?" Madara tilted his head, confused by what was happening.

"Don't question it and just go! Go, go, go!" Chiaki pushed Madara out of the class while leaving the latter in a state of confusion.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa~! Are you guys kicking me out? Dude~ I know I skipped the previous class but it was never my intention to skip it! I was helping a teacher before~!" when he was right outside the class, Chiaki gave him a thumbs-up and closed the door, leaving the brown-haired male standing in front of his class all alone.

"Wow, you guys are so mean~!"

* * *

 **I told you a harsh weather can make people easily angry. We don't want someone like Keito to lose his cool now, do we? And Nico too. Wahahahaha~! So, yeah! There you go! The newest chapter for Class 3A. And guess what? Mikejima Madara made an appearance~! Whoop-whoop~ (´∇** **ﾉ｀** ***)** **ノ**

 **Seriously though. I'm sure I just butchered Madara's personality and behaviour in this chapter. OOC CONFIRMED! Sorry if he was acting not the way he should be~ (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	43. Class 3B - Handling the Heat

**Were you curious to know what happened in Class 3B when the previous chapter took place. Well, good news! You get to see it on this chapter! Enjoy~!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 41: Handling the Heat (Class 3B)

To say that Nico was angry was an understatement. She was furious.

Why wouldn't she? It wasn't as if she could foretold that the school was going to have another power outage – in the middle of the summer, no less. Not to mention, it happened on the day she had a cleaning duty as well. If she could, she would have skipped on her cleaning duty _long_ ago. But unfortunately, that won't ever happened for Nico simply hates dirty surroundings. Especially when the place is untidy.

So, she took it upon herself to clean up the place by herself, during the power outage. Although Leo and Kanata should be helping her out too, both of them were too engrossed with their own problems. Not that she was bothered with it, especially when Leo of all people, might only give her more work after he had scribbled their classroom's walls with his so-called 'inspiration' for his unit's next song. She prefer doing the work all by herself. She'd be much more satisfied of the outcome by her own hard work.

Now, was it wrong for her to get furious when she saw the classroom back to its' previous messy state in such a short time? The answer would be a big, **NO**. Not after she had worked SO HARD cleaning it up by herself. And she had the right to be mad at them.

The pissed look on her face was enough to scare anyone who might come across the petite female. It was funny how Nazuna was the only one who noticed the bad aura emitting from her and none of the others were aware of.

"It's too 'hot'... I feel like I'm 'going' to 'melt'..." Kanata mumbled from his seat as he laid limp on his desk, arms dangling at the front of his desk. Funny thing was, the blue-haired male was directly facing her but somehow, didn't even realized the deadly glare he was receiving from the petite female.

"ARGH! ANOTHER MISTAKE!" Leo suddenly shouted as he scratched his head frantically before he crumpled a written paper – which Nico assumed was his umpteenth time of writing a music composition – and tossed it upward, only for it to land on the floor near his desk, joining with the other crumpled papers around him.

Nico could feel her eye twitched as she watched the papers scattered around Leo's desk. She swore that she had just swept that area before she left the classroom. Now that she's back, it almost looked like she never swept it in the first place. And that irked her.

"Ouch!" Tsumugi squeaked, catching the petite female's attention to him next.

"What's wrong?" Kuro, who was sitting nearby, asked the male as he looked up from a fashion magazine he was reading.

"Oh, i-it's nothing. I just pricked my finger with a needle. Ahahaha..." the dark-blue haired male chuckled nervously before he took his sewing kit back up.

"Now that's just plain clumsiness there. Be careful not to hurt yourself again." the red-haired male shook his head before he resumed reading his magazine.

"Ahaha, I'll try..." and not soon after that, he pricked his finger again. "Oww!"

To be honest, there was nothing wrong between Tsumugi and Kuro, that much Nico was glad. But what really pissed her off was the fact that Tsumugi, like Leo, made a mess around his desk. Pieces of fabrics he used fell down, creating a mess all over his desk and around him. Pretty sure he didn't mean to but it certainly didn't help her situation at all.

Last but not least, Nico's eyes slowly made its' way towards a familiar light-blue haired male at the back of their classroom, Hibiki Wataru. She noticed that he was kneeling in front of a coffin which she assumed, where Rei was currently laying inside while the light-blue haired male swayed multiple of incense sticks in each gap between his fingers, left and right.

"Here lies our beloved classmate and a dear friend of mine, Sakuma Rei, who had passed away due to excessive sunlight exposure and the unbearable heat on this day. May you rest in peace, my friend." Hibiki sniffed comically as he swayed the incense sticks in front of the coffin, as if he was praying for his friend's death.

"Now you're just jinxing it, Hibiki-kun... I assure you, I am very much alive at the moment..." Rei murmured from inside of the coffin as he sat up from the coffin, looking ten times more weary and paler than he ever was.

"Were you the one who placed all these flowers in my coffin...?"

"Indeed I am~" the eccentric male smiled widely.

"As thrilled as I am to receive so many flowers at once, I could not help but think that you are secretly wishing for my death..." Rei mumbled as he massaged the temple of his head while Hibiki let out a dramatic gasp.

"Nonsense~!" the light-blue haired male threw his hands up above – letting go of the incense sticks at the same time – and gripped the black-haired male's shoulder in his usual, dramatic way. "What kind of friend am I to wish for a passing of a dear friend~?"

"Hibiki-kun, I think it was unwise of you to throw all of those after how much Nico-chan had cleaned the class-" Rei's tired eyes met with Nico's intense glare and the older male – surprisingly – found himself speechless. The incense sticks that Hibiki just threw had scattered all over the class. One of them had landed a few inches away from Nico's shoes.

Rei's abrupt silence caught Hibiki's interest as he turned around to look at what the black-haired male was looking. Once Hibiki's eyes met with Nico's, a tensed silence enveloped between them, blocking out everything else. Even Nazuna's pleading seemed so far away in Nico's ears.

Even after she gave him the look, Hibiki's smile remained on his face.

"Whoops~" Hibiki let out a tongue playfully.

And that's when she finally snapped.

"I HAD ENOUGH!" Nico shouted as she threw a random duster she had on her hand towards the light-blue haired male. Unfortunately, Hibiki managed to dodge sideways, only for Rei to get hit instead. The impact of the duster hitting squarely on his face caught everyone's attention as they looked over at the older male.

Losing conscious, Rei fell back into his coffin, earning a moment of silence in the class.

"You can finally rest in peace now, my friend..."

"Don't make it sound like he's really dead, Wataru-chin!" Nazuna retorted.

"N-N-Nico-chan...!? Y-You looked so angry...! D-D-Did something bad happen...?" Tsumugi stuttered once he looked at the front of the class, where the petite female was standing the whole time.

"SCREW YOU GUYS! PLAYING AROUND AFTER I JUST CLEANED UP THE CLASS TIRELESSLY!" Nico shouted at them before she went behind the teacher's desk and pulled out several dusters out of the teacher's desk.

"Well, that's not a good sign." Hibiki stated calmly.

"N-NICO-CHIN! CALM DOWN!" Nazuna pleaded but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears as Nico threw the dusters soon after.

"Get down!" Kuro quickly pushed both Nazuna and Tsumugi's heads down, dodging several dusters that were thrown over at them. It was both horrifying and comical seeing the petite female throwing the never-ending dusters all over the class in a speed of light. It made the whole class wonder how many dusters were there in the teacher's desk and how did Nico even managed to throw all of them at such impossible speed.

"NICO-CHAN IS GOING ON A RAMPAGE! WHAT A HORRIBLE TURN OF EVENTS~!" Hibiki shouted with an excitement tone in his voice as he gracefully avoided every single dusters thrown at him as he toppled some of the desk to make a temporary defence from Nico's dusters and hid behind it.

"UWAHHHH! SHE'S THROWING THE DUSTERS! SHE'S THROWING A LOT OF DUSTERS! SOMEONE HELP~" Tsumugi shrieked harder and harder whenever he heard the impact of the dusters hitting something. Be it the desk, the chair, the wall. Basically everything.

"OI, NICO! STOP IT!" Kuro shouted as he tried to move closer but even he knew the risk of being out in the open while the petite female was still throwing the dusters all over the place.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" she screamed, still throwing the dusters all over the place.

Meanwhile with Leo, who had stayed down behind his own desk, was still writing his new music composition, completely ignoring the whole ordeal happening in the class. However, the noise soon became unbearable as he began to frown deeper and deeper until he had enough of the noisy surrounding and snapped.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SHOULD SHUT UP, TWINTAILS! I'M TRYING TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE HERE! YOU'RE SO NOISY!" Getting out of his hiding spot, he threw back one of the dusters laying around his area at Nico, which – thankfully – flew past by her and immediately got Nico out of her rampaging trance. However, instead of calming her down, his actions only made her even more angry.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU SCRIBBLED THE WALL WHICH I HAD WORKED SO HARD ON CLEANING IT UP, YOU STUPID IDIOT!" she shouted back, throwing another duster at the orange-haired male, which he managed to dodge perfectly.

"I WAS COMPOSING A MASTERPIECE! WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW!?" he retorted and threw another nearby duster, which Nico also managed to dodge.

"WELL GUESS WHAT!? I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BECAUSE I BET IT'S NOT EVEN THAT GOOD!"

"SAY WHAT!?"

"YOU HEARD ME, IDIOT-LEO!"

"Uwahhh! This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Tsumugi panicked as he watched the scene between Nico and Leo as they were at each other's throat while Nazuna and Kuro pulled them away from each other, respectively. Looking around, he wished for the others to tell him what he could do at the moment. "W-What should we do!?"

However, he was soon disappointed by them.

"Rei, may you 'rest' in 'peace'." Kanata swayed a new incense sticks in front of Rei's coffin, completely ignoring the whole incident while Hibiki got a video cam out and recorded the fight between Nico and Leo with a small chuckle.

"Stop treating him like he's dead! And please stop recording like this is nothing serious!"

Amidst the chaotic environment, the door to their class slammed open, followed by the appearance of Hasumi Keito from Class 3A. When the bespectacled male walked in with his usual stern face, his expression quickly changed and was replaced with a shocking look. While everyone in 3B went completely silent, only Nico and Leo went back to their previous bickering while trying to escape from both Nazuna and Kuro's hold on them.

"What is going on in here!? Explain yourselves, now!" he demanded but no one could muster the courage to tell him except for the petite female and an orange-haired male who remained bickering at each other. Because of that, Keito went and assumed that both Nico and Leo were the cause and walked forward to both of them.

"You two! Were you the one who made this whole mess!?" he asked, crossing his arms as he glared at both suspects.

"I-I-It was just a misunderstanding...!" Nazuna tried to cover up the whole incident but was immediately silenced by Keito's sharp gaze.

"Quiet, Nito! I'm asking these two! Not you!" he scolded and went back to glare down at them. "I'll ask again. Were you the one who made this whole mess? Answer now!"

"WHY WOULD I LISTEN TO YOU, FOUR-EYE!?" Nico glared at the bespectacled male.

"YEAH! STOP BUTTING IN, GLASSES!" Leo barked at him afterward.

And Keito was left speechless, slightly dumbfounded by the response he received from both of the questioned students.

"Oi, Tsukinaga. Don't speak so rudely to my leader." Kuro raised his voice at Leo in a threatening tone.

"WHY ARE YOU GETTING SENSITIVE ALL OF THE SUDDEN, HUH!?" the petite female barked at the tall male next while trying to get out of Nazuna's hold on her.

"Nico-chin! Stop it! Why are you getting yourself into so many fights today!?"

"I BET BECAUSE TWINTAILS HERE HAS NOTHING ELSE TO DO! FINE! BRING IT THEN!"

While Nico and Leo went back to their previous bickering, Keito could only watched the two of them throwing verbal attacks at each other, completely ignoring his presence in the room. All of their shouting and screaming hurt his head. With the power outage going on in the school already taking up half of his patience, it was safe to say that even Keito had trouble trying to keep his composure up.

Unfortunately, the moment he received such rude response from Nico and Leo, he had reached that limit.

"H-Hasumi-danna...?" Kuro tensed up when he saw the dark and dangerous look on the bespectacled male's face. Without saying anything, Keito walked closer towards Nico and Leo. When both of them realized the close distance between the bespectacled male and them, they glared at him.

"WHAT!?" and Keito continued to glare down at them silently. It was then, both Nico and Leo felt uncomfortable. As if something bad was coming. And it did.

Hidden behind Keito's back, were two big paper fans. Without even given a chance, the bespectacled male went and swung both of the paper fans each at their heads.

"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, YOU INCORRIGIBLE FOOLS!"

And the only sound came after that, was the sound of a whacking paper.

* * *

 **And that, my readers, is how it all began and ended. Long story short, no one in 3B has enough patience to handle the unbearable heat. Especially Nico~ Added in with having to deal with her classmates' eccentricities. The poor girl can never have a break.**

 **Funny how I made Leo as Nico's bickering partner. Because he's the closest one that I could put him up to Nico's level. Hibiki's a different story because he ALWAYS wins every argument. Typical Hibiki~ ┐(´∇** **)┌**

 **Yeah, I'm not 100% sure about Leo's personality in here. Since, I don't know how he would act when he's really, really angry. As in, 'very-frustrated-that-he-needs-to-let-it-out' kind of way? Something like that, and I'm sure I just butchered it~ Hell yea! (But really tho, I'm sorry about that... Forgive me)**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**

* * *

[IMPORTANT] A/N: Now before I go all hyped into the next chapter, I need a confirmation first. Since I've been hinting a lot about the 'Sports Festival' in couple of previous chapters, I came across a dilemma. (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ If I have to be honest, the upcoming Sports Festival that I ' _planned_ ' on writing is going to clash with Ensemble Star's canon 'Sports Festival' moments. Meaning to say, some of the events that happened in the 'Sport Festival' in Enstars are going to be altered. And this is where I'm going to ask, which would you prefer for me to do next:

 **1) Continue writing the 'Sport Festival' with my own story flow (alternate event).**

 **2) Skip 'Sports Festival' chapter and continue on with a couple more short chapters before the special chapter of Summer.**

You'll get to decide which I should do between those two. In case you want the 1st option, then I hope you don't mind my bad fluff moments for the pairings during that chapter. Don't blame me~ I just want to imagine the pairings interacting with each other during the Sports festival. Even if it means clashing with the actual Ensemble Stars' 'Sports Festival' event.

And if you choose the 2nd option, then we'll just assumed the Sports Festival went well and you guys can just imagine how each pair interacted during the event. (I know I can~) (´∇ﾉ｀*)ノ

Anyway, one thing to mention, the special chapter of Summer season is going to be a, what you call as the 'BIG STEP'. Plus, it comes with side-chapters too. (Hint, hint) Once all of those chapters are done, requests will be open~!


	44. Sports Festival (Part 1)

**The time has come for the long-awaited Sports Festival~! Before you get into reading the chapter, do take note that I've mentioned that this Sports Festival has been altered from the real event from Enstars. Meaning to say, some characters might not be in the same team and some characters team are just made up by me. So, don't get mad at me~**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 42: Sports Festival (Part 1)

It was pretty much expected to find the students of Yumenosaki in a state of excitement on one of the most anticipated school event of the year, the Sports Festival. It was one of those events where students from different courses could mingle with other students without any barriers. Even those from the Idol Course as well.

"Wow~! Look at all the crowds~" Honoka squealed in excitement when she saw a huge crowd of students gathered near the field tracks. Not to mention there were also parents who came to see and cheered for their children from the sideline under a tent provided for them.

"I wonder when mom, dad and Yukiho would come?" she wondered out loud while standing on her toes as she tried to find some familiar faces near the guest's tents.

"They didn't tell you when they'll come, Honoka-chan?" Kotori's question got her to look back to the rest of μ's that were gathered together with her.

"Nope. Not at all. They did mentioned something about preparing something. But other than that, nothing."

"I'm sure they're on the way. Besides, we still have a lot of time before the Ball Toss starts." Umi spoke up. The moment the blue-haired female mentioned the first event, Honoka's previous worries was quickly pushed aside and she smiled.

"I guess you're right! Hehe, somehow I'm getting excited all of the sudden~!"

"Yep! Me too! I'm going to score a lot of points for the White Team-nyaa~!" Rin jumped lightly from her spot, her excitement uncontainable as she grinned from ear to ear. Turning around to face Hanayo, she gripped the brunette's hands tightly.

"Kayo-chin, let's both do our best as fellow White Team members~!" her eyes twinkled as she gazed at her best friend. Hanayo could only nod her head as she giggled at Rin's excited state.

"Ah-ah! Don't count on it too much!" Honoka pointed her index finger at the duo with a competitive look on her face before placing both her hands at her hips. "The Red Team is going to do their best too! Right Kotori-chan!?"

"I'll do my best~" Kotori chirped with a big smile on her face. However, their conversation was soon interrupted when Maki let out a heavy sigh.

"Aren't you guys getting way too excited for this?" Maki crossed her arms as she stared at them. Unlike Honoka and Rin, the red-haired female didn't seem to be interested nor feeling pumped up like them.

"But of course we have to!" Honoka immediately responded. "After all, this is the first time the school decided to hold the Sports Festival in June. Usually, it was held on September, which is at the end of the Summer."

"Huh? Is that true?" Rin wondered out loud, slightly surprised by the news.

"That's right~" Honoka nodded.

"B-But, why are they changing it all of the sudden?" Hanayo asked and this time, Eli took the charge of answering her question.

"That's because coed events like this were highly demanded and requested from the students themselves. It gives them a chance to mingle with students from different courses. Added in that it's also a rare opportunity for the students from the other departments to be able to interact with students from the Idol Course." the blond female explained while emphasizing the students all over the place.

"And the teachers allowed it?" Maki asked, a little bit skeptical about the whole idea.

"Originally, it was the teachers' plan to develop a healthy relationship between students from different departments. And personally, I don't see any problems with it." Umi smiled. "I mean, push aside the Idol status, we're all just normal high school students."

"Precisely." Eli nodded, fully agreed with Umi's statement.

"Yep~! And-that's-why-" Honoka quickly hugged the red-haired female from behind and giggled. "Let's all have fun together~!"

Surprised and embarrassed by Honoka's sudden action, Maki quickly pried off the ginger-haired female's hold on her.

"A-Alright, alright. I get it. I get it already... Just don't hug me all of the sudden..." she mumbled with her face flushed almost as red as her hair colour, causing Honoka to cheer in victory while the others laughed in amusement.

Except for one.

"Speaking of having fun..." Nozomi spoke up, catching everyone's attention to her. "...It seems like a certain someone is not in a 'fun' mood today." Without saying anything, Nozomi glanced and motioned a finger towards a familiar petite female in their group, Nico.

Just as Nozomi said, Nico was certainly not in a 'fun' mood to laugh at the moment. Nor did she even seemed to bother in whatever they were talking previously. Her gloomy state was enough to tell everything. Plus, with the fact that she was sitting down on the ground with her head hung low, they could tell something was wrong. And it made them worried.

"N-Nico-chan? What's wrong?" Hanayo asked, a worried look etched on her face as she gaze at the petite female's state. Nico, without saying anything, only used her index finger to point out something. Everyone's gazes went and looked at where she was pointing. It wasn't that hard to guess what, or who in this case, Nico was trying to point out. The fact that Nazuna stood amongst a big crowd within their line of sight was enough to tell them that it has to be something related to him. It HAS to.

"Is that... Nito-senpai?" Kotori spoke up when she saw the blond male standing with the rest of his classmates, talking and laughing at the moment. "Did something happen between you two?"

Before Nico could even reply or said something – not that she could bring herself to even talk at that moment – Nozomi beat her to it.

"Let me guess, you're not in the same team with him again this year." the purple-haired female spoke up, almost blatantly. Her statement surprised everyone in the group as they stared at her with wide eyes. When all of them turned to look at Nico, she could only let out a depressed sigh, which only confirmed Nozomi's statement even more.

"EHH~!?"

"I knew it..." Eli let out a sigh while Nozomi shook her head.

"What do you mean?" confused, Maki asked. Nozomi and Eli gave each other a look before the purple-haired female went into further explanation.

"Well, let's just say that, for almost 3 years straight, which includes this year, Nicocchi never had the chance to be in the same team as Nazucchi during the Sports Festival. It's not like she never got over it but..." the purple-haired female glanced at the petite female. The fact that Nico was not in the 'got-over-it' state, showed that it must have affected her badly this year.

"Nico-chan! Stay strong! It's too early for you to lose your spark! We need your strength for the White Team!" Rin gripped Nico's shoulder tightly as she shook her back and forth, trying to snap her back to reality.

"Rin-chan is right! You can't give up now before any of the game even started!" Honoka cried out. While the duo kept on trying to motivate the depressed Nico, the others could only stared in silence, unsure of what to do with the situation.

"Oh dear..." Umi could only sigh at the sight.

* * *

As soon as the announcement for the Ball Toss went on, all students quickly made their way to the area for the event. With the Red Team within their area for the ball toss while the White Team right across of theirs. Since most students felt the obligatory to join the first event – which ended up crowding the field – it didn't come as a surprise when the area was crowded with people. Plus, it can be easy to get lost within the huge crowd and Hokuto was one of those unfortunate people.

"Hm, how troublesome. It seems like I got separated from Akehoshi and Yuuki." Hokuto sighed. Looking around him, all he saw was unfamiliar faces. He knew they were students from other courses and because he never talked with other students other than those from the Idol Course, he found it hard to approach them.

Fortunately, after looking around for a while, he spotted a familiar ginger-haired female standing amongst the crowd in front of him.

"Hm? Is that-?" Hokuto made his way towards the female. Once he was close enough, he reached his hand out and tapped the female's shoulder lightly. "Kousaka?"

"Uwahh!" the ginger-haired female yelped in surprise. She quickly spun around to face the one who approached her from behind. Once she saw Hokuto, her surprised face was replaced with a sulky pout.

"Geez, don't scare me like that..." she crossed her arms with an upset look on her face.

"I was just calling you out. What's there to be surprised for?" he asked.

"Well, you sneaked on me from behind, that's why." she gave him a look as if she was trying to tell him that it was pointless to come up with excuses. Knowing that Honoka won't give in until he apologized, Hokuto was left with no other choice but to do so.

"Alright, alright. I was wrong on that one. I apologize." he raised both of his hands as a sign of defeat. Honoka grinned and giggled in victory.

"So? What were you looking at so intently that I caught you off guard which I ended up getting blamed for it?" he asked blatantly as he crossed his arms.

"Geez, cool off with the sarcasm."

"I'm not being sarcastic, Kousaka."

"You sounded like it~"

Unable to endure her playful nature, Hokuto could only let out a long sigh while the ginger-haired female giggled in amusement. He swore that Subaru and Honoka were very much alike. Giving him headaches, getting him into trouble, playing around too much and this came from just handling one person of the two.

"Aww, chill out. I was just playing with you~!" she chirped. However, Hokuto's raised eyebrow indicated that he was not amused by it nor in the mood to play along. Honoka noticed his silence as a sign which led her to drop down her teasing and explained her situation.

"I was just looking out for the others. We got separated when all of the students joined in for the Ball Toss." she emphasized the students around them. It was not that surprising in Hokuto's opinion. In fact, that's exactly how he ended up getting separated from his friends too.

"What a coincidence. I got separated too, from Akehoshi and Yuuki." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Good thing we found each other then, right?" she smiled. At the same time, the sound of a whistle pierced the air, signaling the start of the game.

"Well then! It can't be helped." Honoka picked up two balls laying on the ground nearby and tossed one towards the black-haired male. Hokuto effortlessly caught it in midair while the ginger-haired female had all of her focus on the game. "Looks like we both just have to do our best!"

"Aren't you a little bit excited?" the black-haired male shook his head but smiled. Somehow, seeing how invested Honoka was towards the game, it also helped getting him pumped.

"Well, why not. Do your best, Kousaka." he encouraged the ginger-haired female as he tossed the ball into their team's basket.

"Will do~!"

* * *

The Ball Toss soon came to an end with both teams giving their best effort in the first event. It was right after the Ball Toss, students immediately prepared themselves for the next event which was the Borrowed Item Race. For some students, the Borrowed Item Race was one of the most expected and highly anticipated event of the Sports Festival. Whereas the event was supposed to be having fun and friendly competition amongst students, there's also certain kind of students who would take everything too seriously no matter what.

And one of those kind of students was Koga.

"Oi, Maki! You better do it properly! Aim for the 1st place! If you lagged behind the search, I'll bite you to death! You hear me!?" Koga barked at the red-haired female from his seat under one of the provided tents for students to stay under.

"I've told you before, don't make me promise something impossible. What if I get a really ridiculous item that's hard to find within the school ground?" she crossed her arms as she gave him a disapproval look.

"Like what?"

"Like 'a student who acts like a dog' or something."

"What kind of bullshit is that!? There's no way people would put things like-! Wait a minute? Were you talking about me!?"

"Is there anyone else who acts like a dog other than you?"

"Why you little-!"

And the duo went on with their bickering, to the point where both Hinata and Yuta had to hold them back away from each other before their fight got any worse. Whether they realized it or not, their actions caught a lot of attention from nearby students and even those from the First-Aid tent, where Anzu, Kotori, Hanayo and Nozomi were currently at, at the moment.

"That guy..." Anzu let out a sigh. "Always giving people troubles no matter where or when..."

"Maki-chan sure is having a rough time dealing with him..." Kotori chuckled nervously. The four young women could only watch the red-haired female and the grey-haired male from their spot. As much as they wanted to break those two from fighting with each other, they had other things to do. And by other things, it was managing the place while the teacher in charge – a.k.a Sagami Jin – currently went missing. Possibility, napping somewhere.

While most students have gathered together for the Borrowed Item Race, Nozomi realized that Nico haven't move from her spot on one of the chairs provided for the First-Aid tent. Right after the Ball Toss, the petite female followed them to the First-Aid tent, sat down and just stare at the field with a blank expression on her face.

"Nicocchi?" Nozomi called out to the petite female as she turned around to face the purple-haired female. Unlike before, Nico was looking better than she before. Probably due to the fact she vented out all of her anger and depression during the Ball Toss which caused many students to distance themselves away from the petite female for their own safety.

"What is it?"

"Are you not going to enter the Borrowed Item Race?" Nozomi motioned to the crowd of students that had gathered earlier. Nico however, just let out a sigh as she waved it off.

"Nah, I'll pass. Besides, I need to save up some energy for the Interclub Relay Race later..." she mumbled with the words dragged behind. It was right after she said that, her face turned grim, as if she had just remembered something unpleasant. "...with Hibiki, of all people..."

At the mention of Hibiki's name, Nico immediately reverted back to her previous state and this time, she was even more depressed than before. Without knowing how to console the petite female, the others could only watched her with a pity look on their faces.

'The poor girl...'

The sound of the whistle caught the students' attention as the teacher told those who were participating in the Borrowed Item Race to gather around the start line. While the students paid attention to the rules that was being laid out at the moment, Maki's thoughts went elsewhere.

"Geez, why do I have to participate this one...?" she mumbled softly. As soon as she said that, her mind went back to the day where the members of the Light Music Club were gathering to discuss about the games they should participate. The one who decided on who should participate what, was Rei himself, and Maki was chosen to participate the Borrowed Item Race.

 _'Because the Borrowed Item Race is not that hard as you may think it is. I think it'll suit you the most.' he said._

Rei's statement rewound in her head as he explained the reason why she had to participate the Borrowed Item Race. When the game finally started, students quickly went to draw out a paper, each consisted with a name of the item that they should find throughout the school grounds. As students made their way to draw the paper for their chosen item, Maki could feel the nervousness in her as her turn was getting closer.

"Please don't be too hard, please don't be too hard..." she drew out one paper from the box and walked away. At the same time, she opened her paper and immediately stopped in her tracks.

"W-What? Earring?" she stood there with wide eyes before she lightly facepalmed herself. "Ugh... Don't tell me I have to borrow it from the guest?"

"Glasses? Glasses!?" someone shouted from nearby. When Maki turned around to find who was shouting out loud, her eyes landed on a familiar grey-haired male. It was not Koga, she knew that much. In fact, she recalled this young man as one of those seniors that bothered Hanayo a lot.

"Fufu... Fufufu... Ufufufufu..." he chuckled lowly, giving the impression of a creep in Maki's point of view when suddenly, he turned around with a large smile on his face and dashed off into a distance.

"Yuu-kun~!"

At the sight of the male running excitedly to other location, Maki was left standing on her spot, dumbstruck by what just happened. Unlike the young man, Maki remained on her spot, contemplating on her choice. She could ask the guests but it would be embarrassing if they ended up refusing her request. She could also find a student who might wore an earring although that might actually be difficult to find throughout the school ground.

"Oi, Maki! What the hell are you standing there for!? Get moving already!" a voice snapped her train of thoughts. Even without looking, she knew very well that the voice belonged to Koga. Even so, she turned around to give him a glare when suddenly, something clicked in her head.

Koga has an earring.

Without wasting any time, she quickly made her way to the grey-haired male and fortunately, he was close by as well. And because of her sudden approach towards his direction, the grey-haired male was left wondering and anxious of her actions.

"W-What the hell's wrong with you?" he asked when the red-haired female stopped in front of him.

"Earring!" she reached her hand out to him. Her quick response was apparently too fast for Koga to process that he was left sitting there staring at her with a questioning look.

"Huh?"

"I need your earring!" this time, she stated it more clearly.

"What!? Why the hell are you asking me!? Can't you asked the guests instead!?" he barked at her.

"You're the closest one to the finishing line! Or do you want me to run all the way to the guest's tents way over there and ended up losing the chance to get the 1st place like you wanted?" she asked with a hint of desperate tone in her voice – which even Maki herself was surprised how much she actually care about the game.

"Tch, fine." Koga took off his spiked earring from his left ear and gave it to her. "Here. You better take care of it! Or not, I'll hunt you down to the end of earth if I had to! And if you still-!"

Once the earring was placed in her hand, she quickly made her way to the finish line without even letting the grey-haired male finished his sentence. When it comes to running, she was not entirely the fastest unlike those who have big stamina, especially those who excelled in sports. Which is why, it didn't come as a surprise when someone managed to outrun her.

That being said, it was the president of the Basketball Club, Chiaki, as he dashed towards the finish line, leaving the red-haired female behind while carrying Nozomi on his back.

"Wait, what?" Maki was caught by surprise as she watched the purple-haired female clinging on the brown-haired male's back as he ran towards the finish line, leaving the red-haired female further behind.

"Chiaki-kun! You're running too fast! Slow down!" the purple-haired female shrieked while she gripped the brown-haired male's shoulder for safety as if her life was on the line.

"Hahahaha! Just a little more, Toujou! Hang on for a second!" Chiaki laughed as he ran even faster than before. Not long after that, Chiaki and Nozomi finally crossed the finish line as the first one to cross it.

The brown-haired male walked towards the counter where the appointed judges checked the item that the contestants brought with them, to see whether if it matched with their theme or not. Although they had a skeptical look on their face when they looked at Nozomi, the students had decided that Chiaki got his theme correct and thus, giving out the 1st place to him.

"Alright! We got first place, Toujou!" he cheered. Turning around, he suddenly realized how red the purple-haired female's face was at the moment.

"Y-You can put me down now, Chiaki-kun..." she said in a soft tone. The fact that he even carried her all the way to the counter to be judged, Nozomi wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or did he really forgot that she was still being carried up until now.

"Whoa, your face is all red. Are you okay? Don't tell me-!" Chiaki quickly let down the purple-haired female and faced her. "Are you sick!? Is it a fever!? A headache!?"

"No, no, no. It's nothing like that. I'm still recovering from the fact that you just carried me off like that without telling me anything." she waved it off with a small smile. Chiaki's panicked expression was immediately replaced with a relieve look as he let out a sigh.

"Is that right? That's a relief!" he laughed afterward. However, for Nozomi, she found it hard to just simply laughed it off after what had transpired but she decided not to think too much about it.

"But you know, you could at least tell me what it is that you got for the race? You did just took me away without any kind of warning. So, I'm a bit curious to know. What did you get for the race?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side with a finger on her chin. She could see that his face tensed for a moment before he covered it up with his usual smile.

"Hmm, curious aren't you? However, I think it's best if you don't ask me about it. It's not something that I can really talk about at the moment. Can you forgive me for that?" he pressed both of his palm against each other in front of her and slightly bowed down.

"That's no fair~" she pouted. She was a bit upset that the brown-haired male couldn't tell her but she decided to let it go and quickly replaced her pout with a smile.

"But it's fine. Since you asked so nicely, I won't pry this time." she winked and Chiaki had a big smile on his face.

"As expected of you, Toujou! Such an understanding friend!" he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and laughed.

Back at the First-Aid tent, the three remaining students could only watched in silence as they had witnessed a shocking event that had transpired earlier. From the moment Chiaki came to the First-Aid tent, searching for Nozomi, before he literally took her away until they reached the finishing line.

"A-As expected from Morisawa-senpai, he's very fast..." Hanayo nervously chuckled while Anzu and Kotori nodded their head.

"Maki-chan really didn't stand a chance against him..." Kotori chuckled nervously as she saw the red-haired female leaving the tracks' area discretely.

"What the hell was that!? Gahh, I'm so pissed! And where is Maki!? I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!" Koga went on a rampage while Yuta and Hinata tried their best to calm the male down.

"Oogami-senpai, please calm yourself down! It's not like she could have predicted something like that!" Yuta cried out as he held down the grey-haired male's left arm while the other twin held down the other arm.

"It's just as Yuta-kun said! Maki-chan had no chance against someone athlete like him! Please forgive her! At least she got the 2nd place and that's good enough right!?" Hinata cried out next. Although they continued to plead, Koga doesn't seem to be stopping from going out of control which lead Anzu to decide and helped the twins with their problem.

"I think that's my cue to go help settle the situation down. I'll be right back." Anzu made her way to the scene and helped the twins as they dealt with the grey-haired male together, leaving only Kotori and Hanayo at the First-Aid tent. It was quite a sight to see the brunette scolding the grey-haired male and surprisingly, he calmed down although his face was slightly even more pissed than before.

"A-Anzu-senpai is amazing..." Hanayo stared at the brunette in admiration while Kotori giggled.

"That's Anzu-chan for you." she smiled. Their conversation was soon interrupted when someone's voice cut in.

"Um, excuse me?" a male's voice spoke up, catching the two female's attention back to their surroundings. Looking at the front of the counter, they saw an unfamiliar male standing in front of them.

"O-Oh, y-yes?" Hanayo squeaked, her body slightly tensed. Not only did she had to face with a male student but the fact that she didn't recognize him only made her even more nervous. The young man, however, kept on smiling as if there was nothing wrong going on.

"I'm sorry to bother you but, you're Koizumi Hanayo right?" he pointed at her.

"Y-Yes, I am. I-Is something wrong?"

"No, no, no. There's nothing wrong at all. It's just that, can I borrow you headband? I really need it for the Borrowed Item Race." he presented his paper that was written headband. Surprised but relieved at the same time, Hanayo touched the headband she wore lightly.

"M-My headband, is it? S-Sure." she took it off and handed it over to the young man. She hesitated for a moment but decided that it wouldn't hurt to gave the young man her headband for a while. There was nothing wrong with letting him borrowed it. It's for the game after all. The young man grinned and took it from her.

"Thanks! I'll give this over to you later! I'll be off now!" he quickly dashed away, leaving the First-Aid tent. As soon as he left, Anzu came back as she stared at the young man with a curious look on her face.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure but I'm guessing he's one of the students from other courses." Kotori replied to which Anzu hummed in silence before she faced back to the two females.

"By the way, I don't see Nico-senpai around. Do you know where she went?" she asked. At the mention of Nico's name, both Kotori and Hanayo also happened to realize that the petite female was not around.

"Now that you mentioned it, I didn't even see her even before Morisawa-senpai came and left with Nozomi-chan." Kotori wondered out loud.

"Hm, I see. That's a shame." Anzu crossed her arms with a disappointed look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Hanayo asked, curious why the brunette said so.

"Actually, Nazuna-san said he needed to find Nico-senpai quickly. I thought if I told Nico-senpai that he was looking for her, she would cheered up instantly. I just hope he'll find her fast."

* * *

Nico let out a sigh for the umpteenth time as she walked around the stalls' area. She was getting thirsty and decided to buy some refreshments to cool herself down. And also her head.

"This is so not like me..." she mumbled to herself before taking another sip of her water through the straw.

As she had said, she was certainly out of her character today. She realized that she was getting a bit upset over the fact she that couldn't be in the same team as Nazuna this year as well. Maybe, a BIT too upset.

Years before this, she wasn't really that bothered by the separation because being in a different team helped them to cheer each other. And Nico certainly played that part the most. She would cheer for him every time and everywhere regardless of the games he entered. Even when both of them had to compete each other, she wouldn't stop cheering for him because nothing beats than watching him doing his best. Either he won or not, what matters to her was he did his best and he could be proud of it.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to play that part this time due to her mind constantly thinking about her unfortunate luck regarding the Sports Festival's team assortment. It wasn't that big of deal but she just couldn't bring herself to get over it. Again, she let out another sigh and walked away. That was until, she heard someone shouting from afar.

"Nico-chin!" a familiar voice caught her attention as she froze on her spot. She knew the voice very well and the way her name was being called immediately gave away who it was. She quickly looked around frantically for the owner of the voice. Once again, she heard her name being called. Facing the direction where she heard the voice, she finally saw a familiar blond male running towards her.

"Nazuna-kun!?" surprised, Nico ran towards him as well. When she saw the desperate look on Nazuna's face, she started getting worried.

"W-What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you hurt? Did you lost something?" Nico asked with questions after questions coming out of her mouth. Nazuna literally had to signal her with his hand to stop her from saying anything as he gasped heavily for air.

"I nedd you to fowow me!" he said as fast as lightning which Nico couldn't catch up nor understood what he just said.

"What?"

"I said, I need you to follow me! Come on! There's no one else but you who'd fit with my theme!" he took her hand and pulled her with him towards the field and track area. The sudden action quickly affected her as she felt her face heating up. She would have squealed in happiness long ago if it weren't for her curiosity towards the blond male's actions.

"W-Wait, Nazuna-kun! Where are we going?" she asked while being dragged away.

"To the finish line, of course. I'm entering the Borrowed Item Race and you're the only one who'd fit with what I got!" he said and Nico was left speechless at his statement. She was both surprised and curious at the same time on why she of all people was chosen and not someone else. Once they have entered the track and field area, Nazuna and Nico saw other students have crossed the finish line with their respective items with them.

"Ahh! Some students have crossed the finish line! Aw man, this is all Nico-chin's fault~!" he sulked in a teasing tone which Nico was a bit taken aback by the tone he was using.

"What!? How is it my fault!?" she asked, a bit sad and angry.

"Isn't it obvious!? Because you weren't there to cheer for me!" he shouted which surprised Nico. It wasn't because of the way he was sulking in a childish manner at her but because of his reason.

"And I was expecting for you to cheer for me this time too..." he said with a pout on his face. By the time he said that, they were halfway through the finish line. However, their pace had slowed down from running to a light jog, giving them a chance to talk for a while as they jogged.

"I-I'm sorry. I was-" Nico tried to apologize but the words wouldn't come out as she thought it would.

"But it's fine. At least, bringing you with me is considered as a good luck too." Nazuna turned his head around to look at her with a smile. Nico was suddenly reminded back to when she would usually cheered for him. Regardless of the results he got, he would never stopped thanking her for cheering for him. The guilt in her heart was becoming heavier and heavier by seconds and the blond male noticed it.

"Don't worry about it too much, Nico-chin. It's not like I'm entering any of the games after this." he said and Nico looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Huh!? But why!?" she asked.

"Well, that's because I have a job as a commentator for the relay races after lunch break. And I don't want to burn myself out before that, you know~?" he let his tongue out in a playful manner. Nico was left speechless yet again.

"Nico-chin, you're entering the Interclub Relay race right?" he suddenly asked as he faced the front.

"Huh? Y-Yeah..."

"Then that settles it!" he turned his head around again and smiled, gripping her hands tightly. "This time, I'll be the one to cheer for you! Be sure to expect for it~"

Surprised by his sudden statement, Nico could feel her face heating up. She did not expect for the blond male to make such a bold statement out in the open and yet, her heart fluttered in excitement. The thought of Nazuna cheering for her – even if at that time she had to participate the game with Hibiki, of all people – she couldn't help but looked forward to it.

"Yeah, I will~!" Nico finally gave out her first genuine smile of the day as they finally reached the finish line.

At the same time, her mind wouldn't stop fantasizing at how Nazuna would cheer for her. Giggling and smiling to herself, she failed to notice that both she and the blond male had made their way towards the judging counter. Looking at Nico – who was still smiling all by herself – and the theme that Nazuna had, the students who judged the Borrowed Item Race agreed that what he brought matched with his theme and thus, earning some points for his team.

Even when Nazuna had pulled her far away from the area, Nico was still smiling to herself, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"Nico-chin, what are you thinking about?" he asked, snapping the petite female out of her thoughts as she gazed at the blond male beside her.

"Huh!? Oh, uh, it's-! Um, nothing~!" she grinned, trying so hard to cover herself up although it was obvious she was thinking something else.

"Alright then, if you say so." he shrugged his shoulder with a smile on his face.

"By the way, Nazuna-kun." once Nico snapped out of her fantasy, she gazed at the blond male beside her with a questioning look on her face. "What did you get for the race just now?"

"Well, it's a pretty obvious thing. I got 'someone with the brightest smile' as my item."

"Aha~ Is that so~?" Nico squealed, happy to know that the blond male came to her instead of someone else. Plus, he knew smiling was her trademark which made her even more than happy at that moment. But there was one thing that bothered her when she realized something was off.

"Wait a minute! What kind of item asks a student to find a person!? Is there such a thing in the game now!?"

"Who knows? I'm just following the rules."

* * *

 **End of part 1! The next part would be the time within their Lunch Break! So be sure to expect for it! Still in the middle of the progress for the 2nd part. I hope you can wait for me until then! Thank you for your undying patience towards this lazy, old me! I'll do my best to upload as fast as I can!**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


	45. Sports Festival (Part 2)

**The time has come for the long-awaited Sports Festival~! Before you get into reading the chapter, do take note that I've mentioned that this Sports Festival has been altered from the real event from Enstars. Meaning to say, some characters might not be in the same team and some characters team are just made up by me. So, don't get mad at me~**

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own the characters from both Love Live and Ensemble Stars. All characters belongs to their original creator. I merely own the story of this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter 42: Sports Festival (Part 2)

As soon as lunch break was announced, students either made their way to the stalls to buy food or went to meet their parents and have lunch together. For Honoka, it was the latter. When she finally found her parents and Yukiho, she found out that the reason why they were late was because they were preparing the food they were going to eat for lunch. But somehow, they ended up making a bit too much for the four of them to eat by themselves.

At first she thought of inviting the rest of the girls to join with them but unfortunately, most of them already had plans with other people. However, Honoka found the right person to share the food whom she and her whole family were familiar with.

"Don't be shy, Hokuto-chan. Go on, help yourselves~ There's plenty for the rest of us." Mrs. Kousaka spoke up, smiling at the male as she motioned him to the food that had been served on the mat. Hokuto was speechless as well as stunned by the amount of food the Kousaka family had prepared.

"Mom's right! You should eat more. We have relay races after this too. We don't want to go out there with an empty stomach, now would we?" Honoka continued as she took a bite of her riceball.

"She's right. Come now, have some more~" the older woman urged.

"T-Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Kousaka but I'll be full even before I could fit in that many food in me." the young man tried to decline the offer but the woman persisted. While the duo were busy talking among themselves, Honoka and the rest continued eating with their food. Looking at her father, she could only saw the man eating his food in silence. Not that it was out of the ordinary. Her father had always been a man of few words.

However, that's not a case with Yukiho.

Looking at her younger sister, she found it surprising that she was eating really slow. Definitely not how she usually acted when they're back at home. Plus, she wasn't talking as much as she was before. Which caused her to think, was it because of Hokuto's presence at the moment? She did saw Yukiho glancing at the black-haired male from time to time. And whenever the black-haired male was looking at her direction, she would immediately looked down on her food with her face turning redder by seconds.

"Yukiho, what's wrong? You've been really quiet this whole time, which is pretty rare." Honoka asked, looking at her little sister quizzically. Surprised by the sudden question from the ginger-haired female, Yukiho tensed and looked at her sister with a slightly upset look on her face.

"I-It's nothing! I was just trying to eat without talking. Unlike you!" Yukiho turned her head away with a flushed face.

"Eh~!? I was just asking. Why am I getting mad at?" the ginger-haired female pouted but Yukiho ignored her and resumed eating her food while avoiding eye contact with her sister's.

"Because she has a point. You shouldn't talk with your mouth full." Hokuto scolded, looking at the ginger-haired female from the corner of his eyes with a judging look. The reason why he did because Honoka, ironically, was eating her food while she was talking earlier. As if on cue, Honoka stopped munching her food and quickly swallowed her food.

"Not you too! Geez, you're no fun today..." Honoka crossed her arms and looked away, slightly sulking.

"Is that a problem?" he raised an eyebrow at her, fully facing her this time.

"Well, I had hoped that you would at least play along with me."

"And why should I?"

"Because you're so boring!"

As they continued to argue between themselves, the others laughed, even Honoka's father was chuckling lightly. It was right after that, both Honoka and Hokuto stopped fighting and looked at them with questioning looks on their face. Finally realizing how childish they were acting previously, they laughed along.

* * *

Umi thought luck was on her side today. Ever since she set foot within the school grounds, she haven't stumbled upon a certain flirt that she tried so hard not to meet nor bumped into. Although she tried not to jinx herself for wishing it, she really hoped the day would pass by without having to face him, at all. And so far, it worked.

Or so she thought it was.

"Oh, Umi-chan~! What a coincidence, meeting you here~" Kaoru greeted, waving his hand at her.

Umi tried so hard not to twitch her eyes nor grimaced in front of the male. A part of her told herself to ignore the young man and quickly left the area while she could. Yet, another part of her told herself to stop running away for she knew that she could never avoid the flirt. The more she struggled, the more she WILL end up meeting him. And she couldn't help but agreed to the latter thought.

Letting out a sigh, Umi decided that it was better to accept the fact that she could never escaped the flirt's sight. It was better to think that way than continuing to convince herself that she could avoid him, only to be disappointed later on.

"Hm? What's wrong? You looked tired." he asked, snapping the blue-haired female out of her thought.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just a little tired, that's all..." she crossed her arms and turned her back from him. She could hear him hummed and with her back facing him, she couldn't see what kind of face he was making at the moment. Not that she was interested to know.

"That's no good. You should rest when you know your body needs it. It's not like you have participate every single games that the Sports Festival is throwing at us. In fact, just entering one would be sufficient enough." Kaoru smiled and Umi couldn't help but wanted to scoff at his statement.

"That's very ironic, coming from you." she retorted, which caught Kaoru slightly off guard. Turning around, she faced him with a stern look on her face, almost as stern as Keito always had on his face.

"I don't recall seeing you participating any of the games during the morning session at all. And you're ADVICING me about entering the games?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face, as if she just heard the most ridiculous thing in her entire life.

"Oh? You noticed I wasn't around? I'm surprised. And somewhat happy too~" he winked.

Umi had to hold back every single fiber in her body from slapping the flirt in front of her. Just when she had brought – or forced – herself to have a serious talk with him, he just had to turn the conversation over into something else. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she managed to bring herself to cool down before replying back to him.

"Please don't get misunderstood. I wasn't looking out for you. It was Kanzaki-san who told me about you and your apparent behaviour in disappearing at a bad timing." she explained and somehow, Kaoru's expression suddenly changed once he learned the truth.

"Oh, Souma-kun was it..." he sighed in disappointment.

"So? What did he complained about this time?" he shrugged his shoulder, showing a completely uninterested look on his face unlike before.

"I'm pretty sure you know it better than me." she replied, which lead Kaoru to let out a sigh the second time.

"Well, not that participating would help make the situation any better. Even if I did went and participated earlier, I bet you that Souma-kun will ended up lecturing me and wanted nothing more than for me to not show up. So basically, I did him a favour for not showing up from the beginning so that he won't have to deal with me~" Kaoru casually explained his reason.

Umi stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face as she listened every single words coming out from his mouth. The fact the the flirt in front of her managed to smile innocently as if he had done nothing wrong, Umi found her patience towards the flirt gone.

"Unbelievable..." she mumbled, barely even audible to her own ears.

"Hmm?" Kaoru tilted his head in a questioning manner, unable to catch what she had said. Umi stood there in silence until she finally had enough. She decided that it was finally the time to correct Kaoru's attitude.

"Look here!" she pointed her index finger at him right in front of his face, completely catching him off guard. "Instead of wasting your time, sitting here doing nothing, why don't you just go and try see it for yourself!? Don't just assumed that Kanzaki-san really didn't want you there. You can't just assumed that it's fine if you're not needed at that time. That's the same as easily giving up! All the more reason why Kanzaki-san hated that attitude of yours!"

At this point, Umi wasn't sure what came over her to continue scolding the male, especially when she knew fully well that he's a senior, someone older than her. Yet, she couldn't let go of the chance while the flirt was dumbstruck by what was happening at the moment.

"You need to remember. You're a senior to us. At least show us some effort on your part. If only you showed some sort of contribution or anything to your unit, friends, classmates or clubmates willingly, I would have at least see you in a different light." she walked away in a huff, leaving the baffled flirt behind.

Somehow, seeing the surprised look on Kaoru's face gave some sort of satisfaction deep in her heart. She had always wanted to correct his behaviour and attitude towards his responsibilities, be it as an Idol or as a student. And she knew most people would want him to start taking his responsibilities seriously as well. And yet, somehow, along the way, she ended up mixing her scolding with her own personal thoughts towards him.

It didn't took her long to realize the mistake she had did. Soon, her heart felt heavy and heavier as she walked off. The guilt and worry in her heart was weighing her down and all of the sudden...

"H-How shameless of me..." she whimpered in embarrassment, covering her face with both her hands as she scolded herself at the same time for her previous boldness.

* * *

Eli let out a sigh as she stopped walking and looked at her surroundings.

"I did said I would helped bring this back to him. But the problem is, where is he?" she said out loud to no one in particular as she scanned around a tent area where a lot of students were gathered together as they ate their lunch. While she walked around and looking for someone, her mind recalled back to her conversation with Ritsu earlier.

-Flashback-

" _A parasol? Why are you giving it to me?" Eli asked as Ritsu handed over a random parasol to her._

" _I don't need it, that's why. Plus, it's not mine to begin with." he said with a disgusted look on his face when he stared down at the item._

" _Then, why don't you give this back to whoever you got this from?"_

" _Eli, I just had the most unfortunate luck for having to borrow this from 'that guy' earlier. And it would be great if you could give this back to him instead. I rather stay here, exposed to the sunlight than going back to him to see his face for the second time..." his frown immediately turned into a grimace of disgust and it didn't took Eli long enough to guess who the black-haired male was mentioning, based on his expression and the tone of his voice._

" _Let me guess, is this about your brother?" she asked, regardless and Ritsu nodded weakly. Letting out a sigh, the blond female stood up from her seat with the parasol in her arms. "Alright. I'll help you out so you don't have to worry about giving this back to him."_

 _The look on Ritsu's face changed immediately into a relieved expression, as if he got away from carrying a responsibility. Just before she was about to leave the area, Ritsu called out to her, saying..._

" _Back then, he was at the tent but if he's not there then he's probably somewhere safe from the sunlight. Trust me, you'll find him in no time~"_

-End of Flasback-

"He could literally be anywhere within the school grounds, now that I thought about it..." Eli could feel the feeling of hopelessness looming over her as she thought of finding a single person all over the place by herself. Letting out a sigh, she forced herself to try, even if it might took her ages to find Rei in the middle of the crowd and in a harsh weather too. Plus, she might have an idea where he could be.

Eli walked all over the place wherever her feet were bringing her to. Sometimes, she followed her guts and sometimes, she just randomly picked a place to go. She would also occasionally asked nearby students about Rei's whereabouts but most of them didn't even noticed the male. That was until, she bumped into Keito.

"At the fountain?" Eli asked and the bespectacled male nodded.

"Yes, at least I think so. We somehow passed by each other when I walked out of the school building. I'm not sure if he even noticed me. Plus, he didn't looked too good from what I saw." Keito explained. Eli grew worried when she heard of Rei's condition. She thought maybe because he didn't have a parasol with him. Thanking the bespectacled male, Eli made her way to the fountain in a hurry.

The fountain area was void of people during the lunch break. From afar, she could see a familiar blue-haired male soaking in the fountain. Running lightly towards the male, she called out to him.

"Kanata-san~!"

Kanata, who was enjoying the water soaking onto his body, turned around to face the one who called out to him. When he saw the blond female making her way towards him, he waved back with a smile.

"Eli-san~ 'Good morning'~ Is 'something' wrong?" he asked once she was close enough.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to bother but do you have a moment? I wanted to ask if you saw-" her words were immediately cut off when her eyes landed on a familiar-looking male, slightly floating beside Kanata in the fountain. Upon closer look, her whole body froze.

"Kyahh! Sakuma-san!?" Eli shrieked, surprised to find the person she was looking for had drowned in the fountain. Quickly pulling him out from the water, she shook his body back and forth as if she was trying to see if he was conscious or not.

"Why did you let him drown in the fountain, Kanata-san!?"

"Hm~? But Rei-kun said he felt like 'fainting'. So, I 'helped' by pulling him into the 'fountain' to 'cool his head'~"

"That's not helping him, that's drowning him!"

Once Rei had regained his conscious, Eli took it upon herself to bring him to the First-Aid tent, free from sunlight exposure so that he could rest up properly. When they finally reached the First-Aid tent, where Sagami Jin had already came back to look over the place, he didn't have to check up on Rei to tell what was wrong with his condition. Once Sagami told him to rest up, he went ahead to inform the other teachers while Eli stayed behind with Rei at the tent.

"I apologize for troubling you once again, Ayase-kun... It seems like I've been nothing but a bother to you as of late..." the black-haired male spoke up after Sagami had left. Eli turned to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it, Sakuma-san. I just happened to be looking out for you at that time." she said and Rei chuckled softly before casting his gaze on the ground. Eli noticed his doubt and it certainly made the situation between them awkward. Thinking of lifting up the mood, Eli's mouth started to run by itself.

"Besides, I think I've gotten used to you causing problems all over the place when you were the president of the Student Council before. And I've certainly gotten used to settle your problems back then as well. It was more tiring before than now, to be honest." she said blatantly as she shrugged her shoulders.

Rei was caught off guard by her statement but nonetheless, chuckled.

"Not even holding back to what you're saying, aren't you Ayase-kun? I'm hurt..." he feigned a hurtful look with a smile on his face. Eli was glad that she was able to lift his mood and she couldn't help but giggled. The tension between them disappeared and that's all that matters to her.

"But..." Rei spoke up and smiled at her. "...I am quite relieved to find that you haven't changed."

Eli couldn't help but blushed. His smile seemed so pure and genuine that Eli couldn't help but stared at him for a long period. She didn't seemed to realize what she was doing but Rei did.

"And what exactly is running around in that mind of yours, Ayase-kun?" he asked with a slight of teasing tone in his voice. The sight of a small smirk on his face immediately snapped the blond female back to reality. She recognized that tone and the smirk very much, especially when it came from Rei himself. It reminded her of the old days back when she and the black-haired male were pretty much...'close' at that time.

"N-Nothing... I was just surprised. That's all." she cast her gaze away, avoiding eye contact while Rei still had his eyes on her. She could hear him chuckled but she dare not to look at him at the moment.

"Well, I'm most certainly glad that your shyness haven't changed. I always find that part of you very endearing since last year. It'd be a shame if you were to get rid of it." he said with a teasing tone as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, now you're just pushing it..."

"And that part as well~"

"Sakuma-san!" she called out to him with a warning tone but the black-haired male laughed it off, leaving Eli annoyed and frustrated with his teases.

It certainly reminded her of the way they were before. Rei would occasionally teased and poke fun at her whenever he saw how focused and diligent she was back when she was a member of the Student Council. When she urged him to do his job as their president, he would literally dumped it all onto her hands before running off without telling his location. It was a painful and tiring moments at that time. And yet, she was glad. If he weren't to do such things to her, she wouldn't get the chance to get close to him and to understand who he was.

Although, it did ended up getting them both into something that neither of them expected to happen back then. And it still remained in her heart until this day.

"Are you still thinking about me, Ayase-kun?" Rei's voice snapped her out of her thought as she realized how close he was to her face. "Quite bold of you to daydream about me when I am right in front of you."

Freezing at her spot, she tried to calm her heart down and controlled herself. Once she collected herself, she gave him a small glare while the black-haired male had a smile on his face.

"No, I wasn't. And you're too close..." she pushed his forehead away with her finger, distancing his face from her. Rei laughed at her actions and stated how she really reminded him of the days from the past before laughing once more. Eli couldn't help but found herself laughing along with him.

She was content with how things were between them at the moment. At the very least, she hoped they remained this way and prayed that the past wouldn't get in-between them.

* * *

It didn't take Kotori and Mika too long to find where their club president had disappeared. In fact, they didn't even had to do anything at all.

"U-Um, Kiryu-senpai? What are you doing...?" the grayish-brown haired female asked, the surprised look on her face remained as she watched the red-haired male walked towards them as he carried their president on his shoulder.

"Yo, young lady. I believe you've lost a very important leader in your group. So I came to give him back." he replied casually, as if there was nothing weird or wrong with his current situation. Of course, both Kotori and Mika doubted that. For the red-haired male to just carried a young man on his shoulder out in the public, everyone would found it way out of ordinary.

"Silence! I did not ask for such a thing! All I wanted was to stay somewhere quite, preferably at home at this moment if it were not for this wretched event that all students were obligated to attend!" Shu finally spoke up as he thrashed around within Kuro's hold, knocking and elbowing his head, not that it was effective against the red-haired male.

"Quit complaining and just enjoy the day. Would you rather stay indoor for the rest of your life rather than participating events like this?" Kuro glanced behind his shoulder to look at the pink-haired male with an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm just saying that I could have spent my time on something that's worth ten times better than this ridiculous event!" Shu retorted. The fight between the two left Kotori and Mika speechless, standing at the sidelines as if they were not even needed at the moment. After several minutes had passed, Kuro finally got tired of fighting and looked at the previous duo who watched in silence.

"Anyway, I'm here to give him back to you. Make sure to not let him out of your sights." he finally released the pink-haired male from his shoulder and placed him in front of them.

"Y-Yes, sir..." Mika nodded while Shu dusted off his clothes from invisible dusts.

"Hmph! You think I'm incapable of looking out for myself? Don't make me laugh. Come Kagehira, Minami. We're leaving." Shu walked off into the other direction with Mika following right after him, leaving Kotori and Kuro behind. Hearing Kuro sighing, guilt began to form inside her heart as she faced the red-haired male with an apologetic look on her face.

"I-I'm really sorry about that." Kotori bowed down at the red-haired male in front of her. The guilt in her heart for troubling the older male tugged her heart to apologize. Plus, the reason why Shu avoided the games was basically their group's fault in the first place. They kept forcing him to join again and again to the point he was fed up with it.

"I guess it was our fault for pushing him to enter the events when he had clearly stated that he disliked it." she chuckled nervously. Kuro looked at the young female before looking over at the pink-haired male walking further away while he was talking with Mika beside him.

"Nah, it's fine. In fact, I should be thanking you guys for doing so." he smiled. "That guy doesn't know how to appreciate this kind of events sometimes. It'd be a waste if he were to miss out this kind of things which can really help him mingle with other people. So, it helps to push him out of his comfort zone so that he could discover it by himself. "

Kotori stood there, wide eye and speechless. Somehow, watching the red-haired male talking about Shu with a gentle smile on his face, it warmed her heart at how caring he was towards his friend.

"Kiryu-senpai, you really care for Itsuki-senpai a lot, don't you?" she asked, smiling at the older male. Kuro stared at her with a slightly surprised look on his face before it was replaced with a confused look.

"Well, he's my friend after all. I'm sure everyone would do the same to their friends as well." he answered. His simple answer was enough to make Kotori giggled before she stood right in front of Kuro's line of sight.

"Don't worry! Me and the rest of our group will take good care of him! You can count on that~" she chirped with a big smile on her face. Kuro chuckled lightly before nodding his head. The next thing he did caught Kotori completely off guard. He petted her head.

"Thanks, young lady." he said and Kotori's face immediately turned red. Embarrassed and panicked, she quickly distanced herself with an awkward smile on her face.

"N-N-No problem! So, uh, I-I-I'll be g-g-going now! Goodbye~!" Kotori left quickly, tailing behind Shu and Mika. Meanwhile, Kuro could only stare after the grayish-brown haired female with a confused look on his face as she went further away.

* * *

"U-Um..." Hanayo couldn't bring herself to speak as she stood on her spot, body all tensed. In the back of her mind, she could only thought of, how did it came to this.

It was right after the Borrowed Item Race, where she waited for the young male who borrowed her headband to come back and gave it back to her. But unfortunately, he didn't. She couldn't even find him amongst the crowd back at the counter where their items were being judged. Back then, she was so worried that she was unable to focus on her task in the First-Aid tent. After all, that headband was precious to her. It was a birthday gift from Rin from last year. Now that she lost it – or more like, someone had took it away – she couldn't bring to forgive herself for it.

Just when she thought of giving up, she got a letter from a random student who was merely passing by. Apparently, the letter was from the same student who borrowed her headband, telling her to meet him up. Without wasting any time, she went to the designated location that was written in the letter, with her mind filled with the thoughts of getting it back.

However, when she arrived, she clearly didn't expect for their meeting to turn into a completely different case.

"Can I have your number?" the same young man who borrowed her headband asked her. Speechless and anxious, Hanayo remained on her spot, unable to think nor act.

"U-Uh, that's... U-Um..." she tried to speak up however, the confident smile across the young man's face caused the words to stuck in her throat and the brunette found herself speechless once more.

"Come on, it's just a phone number. Besides, we're not in the same course and I really, really wanted to keep in touch with you. You're cute and everything after all. It'll be a shame if I can't talk or see you anymore." the young man explained, almost nonchalantly as if what he said made sense and there was nothing wrong with asking for her phone number.

Hanayo was not dumb. She knew that giving out phone numbers was strictly prohibited for Idols to give to strangers or even students from other departments. Not that she didn't trust them but the teachers had told them numerous times to never gave out any personal information to anyone other than the Idols themselves as well as family members.

However, in this case, the brunette knew she couldn't decline the young man's request due to the fact he had his hands on her headband. The fact that he was using her headband as a chance to get her phone number scared her. She knew this was nothing more than a bribe but what could she possibly do by herself? Not to mention they were currently in an isolated area where students were likely to pass by. It would be impossible for the brunette to ask for help when there's no one around to help.

Letting out a sigh, she made up her mind with a heavy heart. Hanayo was about to give her answer to him when suddenly...

"I think I've heard enough..." someone spoke up. Looking over behind the young man in front of her, Hanayo's eyes widen in surprised.

"Sena-senpai!?" the brunette squeaked in surprise. Izumi stood there with his arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his face. Somehow the sight of the grey-haired male – although he had a look of a murderer at the moment – washed her over with a huge wave of relief.

"Who gave you permission to ask such a thing, huh...?" the grey-haired male asked as he glared at the young man in front of him.

"Y-You're...S-Sena Izumi...!?" the young man flustered.

Although the look on Izumi's face remained the same, Hanayo could tell that he was emitting a dark aura around him as he stared directly at the young man's face. And it certainly gave her a bad feeling about it.

"Look, I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear any of those stupid things you just spouted earlier, IF you give that headband back..." the grey-haired male held out his hand to the young man, indicating him to turn over the headband.

"W-What? Why should I-!"

"Look _**pal**_..." Izumi leaned in closer, a scornful look spread across his face as he looked down at the young man. "...After my plan in the Borrowed Item Race failed miserably, you can see that I'm NOT in a good mood right now. So if you like to stay out of trouble and move on with your daily life in Yumenosaki, I suggest you listen and comply to what I just told you, _**brat**_..."

The young man however, remained on his spot, gritting his teeth as he stared at the grey-haired male, unfazed by his threatening tone.

"Unless..." Izumi grinned wickedly as he glared down at the young man. "...you want me to report this to the teachers and have them kicked you out...?"

Soon enough, the young man wasted no time giving the headband back to the grey-haired male before running off to a distance in a hurry. It was quite comical but pitiful at the same time. Izumi scoffed at the sight before he muttered something under his breath.

Hanayo was contemplating whether she should approach the male or not. The fact that she could recognize how every single word coming out from his mouth was full of sarcasm and spite, she knew it would be a bad idea to approach him at the moment. However, she couldn't stay still after what the grey-haired male had done for her.

Taking a few steps forward, she called out to him.

"U-Um, Sena-senpai. T-Thank you-"

"And what were you thinking, you idiot!?" Izumi cut her off immediately, surprising the brunette from the sudden interruption. The glare she received from him was not the same glare she usually saw from before. She knew, at that moment, that Izumi was beyond pissed and it was the first time she had ever saw him in such a state.

"Don't you realize that an Idol's phone number is personal information!? Are you really that dumb for thinking that giving away such information is not a big deal!? Huh!?" he lashed out, causing the brunette to flinch from her spot.

"I-I'm sorry..." she apologized, tears started to form at the corner of her eyes. Although Izumi still had an angry look on his face, he kept his mouth shut as if he was holding back his angry remarks from coming out. Not that he could hold it off for too long.

"Well, you better! For God's sake...!" he huffed, crossing his arms and turned around with his back facing her. Hanayo tried her best to hold back the tears from spilling out. Although she had gotten used to his usual lashing and threatening from before, this time, she knew it was different. In fact, too different. She could tell how every single words were laced with anger and disappointment. He was truly upset.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry..." she spoke up and brushed the tears away from her eyes. "But... I just... I just can't lose this headband, no matter what. It's... a precious gift from Rin-chan after all..."

Silence surrounded them after the small brunette finished explaining. The atmosphere felt heavy and tensed that Hanayo couldn't help but felt uncomfortable.

"Then take care of it better next time." he suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. Turning around, he shoved the headband into her hands. However, his hand remained on the spot above hers as he stared down at her with his usual cold, hard gaze.

"If it's that precious to you, then don't just give it away that easily, you dolt." he spat, causing the small brunette to flinch but regained her composure when he finally let go of his hold on her headband and crossed his arms once again.

Speechless, Hanayo stared at the grey-haired male in front of her with amazement. She was surprised and touched at the same time. Looking down at the headband in her hands, a smile made its' way up to her face before she gripped the headband lightly.

"I-I understand. Thank you, Sena-senpai..." she thanked the grey-haired male with a smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Izumi asked as he looked down at her with a scowl, earning a small squeaked from the small brunette.

"I-It's nothing! I-I-I'm just...happy... because you helped me." she replied, hiding her face behind her headband – not that it really helped covered her face, to begin with.

"Haa~? Don't get it the wrong way, you idiot." Izumi glared at her. His glare was soon replaced with a sly smirk as he walked closer and closer to the small brunette in an intimidating way. Hanayo couldn't help but took a step back every time the grey-haired male took one step closer to her.

"You see, Hana-chan~ If you thought I helped you out of free will, then that's where you're wrong~" They proceeded with their little game until Hanayo was backed against a wall. Without even given a chance to react or do anything, Izumi trapped her with both of his hands at each side of her head, completely preventing her from going anywhere.

Slowly looking up to meet his gaze, the sight of his sinister smile made her squeaked before she covered her face once more

"Now that I've helped you, you basically owe me. And you know veeeeeery well what I had in mind for you, Hana-chan~" he called her name in a sing-song manner, the sinister smile remained on his face while Hanayo's face turned pale from the sight.

"I-I-Is it...about Makoto-senpai...?"

"Clever girl~"

' _Oh God, save me..._ '

* * *

 **SHIP TEASE! SHIP TEASE! SHIP TEASE, EVERYWHERE~ That's right, you read that right dearest readers! I just had the guts to put those random ship tease in this chapter because the chance was THERE!**

 **And yes, there are some ships that weren't included in this chapter because they'll have their time to shine in the next chapter (coughRinAdoniscough). But anyway, although this chapter is full of those ship tease, I do hope you took note of certain things happening in each ship. Cause who knows? Maybe it'll make more sense when the time comes in future chapters. Fufufufu~**

 **Amongst all the ship tease I've wrote, I have to say I love the EliXRei one. Gotta love mentioning the past without revealing anything at the same time. Ohohohoho~**

 **Anyway! Thank you for taking your time to read my story and this newest chapter! Hope you liked it and if you have any comment or review, please write it down below~! I'll see you in the next chapter~! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°**


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